Aleksandr Vlasov winner of the 5th stage and new overall leader, Remco Evenepoel and Thibaut Pinot released

With his beautiful Swiss champion jersey, Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Fenix) felt obliged to liven up the week for his national tour. On this fifth stage, he delivered a superb number, first wringing his breakaway companions (Turgis, Kamp, Jacobs, Imhof) before resisting a group of favorites yet well led by the INEOS-Grenadiers and the Bora- Hansrgohe. The first for Tom Pidcock and Geraint Thomas, the second for Aleksandr Vlasov who therefore put the ball in the background.

Evenepoel in difficulty and dropped

Dillier had not yet been picked up when Remco Evenepoel showed his first signs of weakness. Dropped just over 20 kilometers from the finish, the Belgian came back… before breaking down again and conceding 2’12” on the line. If he “only” suffered from a heat stroke, he may have a chance of moving up to the general standings with two mountain stages and a stopwatch, but the trend is rather negative for the nugget.

It was 15 miles from the goal in Novazzano, on the Italian border, that Dillier was caught. The Swiss champion dismissed, the leaders were able to explain themselves and this cost his place in the group to Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), decidedly a bit tight this week. The strongest was therefore Aleksandr Vlasov who also had the advantage of having Maximilian Schachmann with him. The German first tried his luck before leaving the field open to his leader.

This brought the group back to a Jakob Fuglsang on his legs and who had taken to their heels before pulling himself out of the pack in the last kilometer. He took it well, the stage and the leader’s jersey falling into his hands. His lead of six seconds over Fuglsang and seven over Thomas, on the other hand, does not guarantee him anything before the last three stages which will necessarily be decisive for the final victory.