Fully-focused: Nicolas Roche is staying totally switched on at this Tour of Britain, waiting for an opportunity to present itself. He is currently 10th overall but just 1:16 down on the race leader. Tomorrow, we will know a lot more about what kind of shape he is in.
By Brian Canty
Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche are very much still in the hunt for the Tour of Britain after today’s fifth stage of the race.
Martin is still just 1:04 behind his teammate and race leader Julian Vermote while Roche is still 10th at 1:16.
They were both part of a group of 36 riders sprinting for the win today while behind them were a number of smaller bunches.
The next group on the road numbered no more than 20 riders but at 45 seconds was next best of the Irish, Ryan Mullen (Cannondale-Drapac).
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Damien Shaw (An Post Chain Reaction) and Conor Dunne (JLT Condor Cycles) were at 3:47 and 6:05, respectively.
Today’s stage took the riders on a 194-kilometre journey from Aberdare to Bath with three cat 2 climbs along the way.
A five-man break featuring eventual stage winner Jack Bauer (Cannondale-Drapac), Johnny McEvoy (NFTO), Javier Moreno (Movistar), Amael Moinard (BMC) and Erik Rowsell (Madison Genesis) amimated the stage.
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A delighted Jack Bauer takes the stage as the breakaway just about holds off the peloton at the Tour of Britain.
It was a fabulous effort by them and they worked hard to build a lead of over five minutes on the peloton at its maximum.
Lotto Soudal, LottoNL-Jumbo and Dimension Data led the chase and had the gap under a minute with 10 kilometres to go.
McEvoy was first to crumble from the leading five, leaving four to chase the stage and they stayed true to the task at hand, holding off the bunch all the way to the line.
It looked as if they’d be swamped as the peloton wound up for the sprint but timing his kick in the nick of time was Kiwi strongman Bauer.
He held off Moinard and Rowsell with Caleb Ewan (Orica-BikeExchange) edging Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) for fourth.
Tomorrow’s stage should see a sizeable shake-up in the overall standings as there are three categorised climbs en route to the summit finish at Haytor, Dartmoor.
The final kilometres sees the road rise an elevation of 200 metres and that should be enough to see a small front group of contenders contest it - and the number of possible contenders trimmed to just a handful.
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