Young Czech rider Pavel Bittner (dsm-firmenich PostNL) took his first WorldTour victory on Wednesday, rounding Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) to win stage five of the Vuelta a España.
The 21-year-old, racing his Grand Tour debut, came off the wheel of the Belgian on the flat run-in into Sevilla, and timed his bike throw to win by a tyre's width after a long sprint. His victory was confirmed by a photo-finish, with Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) crossing the line in third.
Bittner's win at the Vuelta comes just over a week after his first pro victories earlier this month, when he won two stages of the Vuelta a Burgos.
"It's unbelievable," he said in Sevilla. "Only a few days ago I got my first pro win, so to get the win in my first Vuelta, I still don't believe it.
"If we look at the last few years, I think with DSM, we've done a big portion of work. A lot of work went into this, a lot of people, and especially in the final [kilometres], the whole team was working really, really good. To beat Wout in a long sprint, he's one of the best long sprinters in the world, it's just crazy.
"I told the guys, 'Today we can really do it. Guys, I really believe in myself.' When the opportunity opened, I just opened my sprint and went full gas to the line."
The general classification remained unchanged following stage five, with Primož Roglič (Visma-Lease a Bike) still leading by eight seconds ahead of João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates).
Rui Costa (EF Education-EasyPost) abandoned the race following a crash inside the final 10km.
How it happened
"The easiest stage of the whole race," was how Van Aert described the day ahead of him at the sign-on podium in Fuente del Maestre. Stage five was the only one billed as 'flat' by the race organisers, with no categorised climbs, and a smooth finale in Sevilla.
The main challenge for the peloton would be the heat, with temperatures edging on 40°C in southern Spain. In a bid to keep cool, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) was spotted eating a Calippo by the start line.
Two riders were brave enough to take up the breakaway under the sun. Already two-time escapee at the race Ibon Ruiz (Equipo Kern Phrama) was joined by first-timer Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) shortly after the flagdrop, forming an all-Spanish duo.
The pair lasted over 100km together through the sun-scorched fields. They were caught with 38km to go, on the approach to the stage's only intermediate sprint, which was won by Groves ahead of Van Aert.
Heading into Sevilla, it was Groves's Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates who took charge of the pacing, hoping to set up the Australian's second victory of this year's edition.
Van Aert launched his sprint first, with around 200m to go, towing Bittner on his wheel. Bittner then edged over the Belgian's right shoulder with the finish gantry in sight, before the two of them tossed their bikes in unison, the Czech's wheel the first to cross the line.
Thursday's sixth stage of the Vuelta a España counts four categorised climbs en route to Yunquera in the province of Málaga.
Results
Vuelta a España stage 5: Fuente del Maestre > Sevilla (177km)
1. Pavel Bittner (Cze) dsm-firmenich PostNL, in 4:25:28
2. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike
3. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck
4. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis
5. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ
6. Corbin Strong (NZl) Israel-Premier Tech
7. Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers
8. Arne Marit (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty
9. Gianmarco Garofoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan
10. Jésus Antonio Soto (Esp) Equipo Kern Pharma, all at same time
General classification after stage five
1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, in 18:58:36
2. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +8s
3. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, +32s
4. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +38s
5. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Bel) Lotto Dstny, +41s
6. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +47s
7. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, +50s
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +58s
9. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal Quick-Step, at same time
10. Aleksandr Vlasov, Red Bull - Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:00
