ProTeam Zimmermann animates the early breakaway in stage five of Tirreno-Adriatico

Lotto–Intermarché was not the only team aiming for the breakaway. During the opening phase of stage five- which ran from Marotta-Mondolfo to Mombaroccio- many riders saw their opportunity to go for the win from an early move. A group of eight riders, including our German champion Georg Zimmermann, managed to get clear. ‘Gigi’ was joined by riders such as Julian Alaphilippe, Emiel Verstrynge and Michael Valgren. The group quickly built a gap of several minutes, raising hopes of a successful outcome. “Of course you hope for a scenario like that. The goal of a breakaway is always to win,” Zimmermann explained. “We also worked well together and I felt really good.”

On the first passage of the Beato Sante climb, with less than thirty kilometres remaining, the breakaway began to split apart. At that moment they still had a lead of two and a half minutes over a heavily reduced peloton. Valgren and Alaphilippe went clear, while Zimmermann formed a chasing group with Verstrynge and Haig. Led by UAE Team Emirates, the peloton gradually reeled in the early attackers one by one- all except Valgren. “When I heard the big teams had moved to the front, I knew it would be difficult. Very few early breakaways make it to the finish, but Valgren proves today that dreaming is still possible. In the end he finishes just under two minutes ahead of me, that shows he was simply the strongest today,” Zimmermann said with a smile.

Tomorrow brings the penultimate and once again demanding stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. “Today was really intense, but I definitely want to try again. I’m currently 24th in the general classification. Finishing in the top 20 would be nice, even though I still have about a minute and a half to make up. I see no reason not to try again tomorrow. If I stay in the peloton, a top 20 will not be possible anyway. But of course we’ll have to see how the legs feel tomorrow.”

Photo: PhotoNews