Van der Poel holds off Pogačar for second 2021 Tirreno-Adriatico stage victory on miserable day
Hugo Houle up to 13th on GC
An exhausted Mathieu van der Poel took his fourth triumph of the season by winning Sunday’s fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico on a miserable day on the Adriatic Coast. The Dutch superstar earned that quartet of victories–including Strade Bianche and Friday’s stage of the Race of the Two Seas–in nine race days. Tadej Pogačar, who almost overtook van der Poel before the line, padded his race lead over Wout Van Aert with two stages including a time trial remaining.
Hugo Houle bounced up 20 positions on GC after finishing 16th on Sunday and and now sits 13th. Houle’s best career WorldTour stage race spot so far was 23rd in the 2019 Paris Nice.
The Course
After a flat 100 km north by the seaside, the race resolved itself on three 24-km circuits around Castelfidardo, each full of categorized and uncategorized short, steep climbs. It was a chilly, rainy, windy day.
Look at the profile of #TirrenoAdriatico stage 5!
That second half of the course is just insane, gradients reaching 20% await the riders on the circuit and, for good measure, a 12% ramp will spice things up with the finish line in sight. pic.twitter.com/XzVpqDjVUo— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) March 14, 2021
It took 40 km for a break to form. A quintet containing world time trial champion Filippo Ganna and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Davide Ballerini bolted and hit the circuits with a 3:00 gap.
Four minutes for @ballero_94's #TirrenoAdriatico leading group, who will soon enter on the brutal Castelfidardo circuit, where the double-digit gradients are expected to make for some fun racing.
Photo: @GettySport pic.twitter.com/obVbOyFJ7f— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) March 14, 2021
Early in the first circuit on a steep slope Egan Bernal attacked, and Sergio Higuita, Pogačar, van der Poel and Van Aert were able to join him.
Van der Poel then flew away on a descent, with Pogačar and Bernal’s chase group growing. With 42 km remaining, the Dutchman had almost a minute’s lead.
The Pogačar-Van Aert-Bernal chase group also contained Nairo Quintana, Simon Yates, Romain Bardet, Greg Van Avermaet, João Almeida and Mikel Landa. Third place overnight, Higuita cracked; another notable absence was Jakob Fuglsang. Van der Poel, +20:00 to Pogačar at the start of the day, kept increasing his lead as his pursuers struggled to get in their jackets.
Bernal vs raincoat. Fight! pic.twitter.com/f6ph2RjRxY
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) March 14, 2021
When he heard the bell, van der Poel had a gap of 2:45. Marc Soler was part of a three-man move out of the chase; looking to move up the GC he dropped his breakmates. On one of the steeper ascents, Pogačar pulled away from Bernal and Van Aert and gathered up Soler and friends.
Pogačar dispatched Soler and soon Van Aert joined the Spaniard before lighting out after the Slovenian. The race leader closed in on van der Poel and nearly caught him, finishing only 10-seconds back. Van der Poel was too fatigued to celebrate. With time bonuses calculated, Pogačar put 40-seconds into Van Aert. Landa moved up to third in the GC.
There are more finishing laps with more short, steep climbs on Monday.
2021 Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 5
1) Mathieu van der Poel (The Netherlands/Alpecin-Fenix) 4:48:17
2) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) +0:10
3) Wout Van Aert (Belgium/Jumbo-Visma) +0:49
16) Hugo Houle (Canada/Astana/Premier Tech) +3:51
131) Guillaume Boivin (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +24:56
2021 Tirreno-Adriatico GC
1) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) 22:41:41
2) Wout Van Aert (Belgium/Jumbo-Visma) +1:15
3) Mikel Landa (Spain/Bahrain-Victorious) +3:00
13) Hugo Houle (Canada/Astana/Premier Tech) +11:26
138) Guillaume Boivin (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +1:05:15
