Max Poole was first home on today’s fifth stage in 15th place after a GC battle unravelled on the day’s main climb of San Giacomo. The day’s strong early break of ten looked like it could threaten the stage honours, but the chase from behind eventually proved too much and all was back together on the main ascent of the stage. From here the attacks came and splintered the front of the race, with Max racing with Romain Bardet in pursuit of small groups in front. Unfortunately Bardet crashed out of the chase but was able to carry on to the finish following checks on the road.
Up ahead, Poole dug deep on the final drag to the line to cross in the top 20 on the day. He ends the day in 11th on GC.
After the stage, Poole said: “It was a strong break and so the pace was fast on all the climbs in the chase. When it all kicked off at the end I just missed a bit to go with the rest but I kept fighting and came back into one of the front groups. From there I tried to do a sprint and gave all I had. We can look forward to tomorrow and see what opportunities we can take.”