Pidcock rockets to Ruta del Sol stage victory as Romeo wraps up the GC

Tom Pidcock won stage 5 after an entertaining and tactical battle in the final kilometres of the stage, with Iván Romeo (Movistar) winning the general classification. 

The fifth and final stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia began with a breakaway trio establishing an early advantage over the peloton, which was led by Visma | Lease a Bike and Movistar. 

With a relatively flat parcours for the opening half of the stage, the trio in the breakaway, which included Markus Hoelgaard (Uno-X Mobility), Milan Vader (Pinarello Q36.5) and Julius Johansen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), cooperated well and built a solid margin to the peloton behind, with the trio even still ahead of the peloton with 30 kilometres to go in the 167 kilometre stage.

The chances of the breakaway's chances for victory dwindled inside the final 28 kilometres as two ascents of the Alto de la Primera Cruz (2.8km at 5.9%) awaited, with riders from the peloton, including GC favourites, attempting to play their cards, with the breakaway of the day caught on the descent of the Alto de la Primera Cruz.

Horrific luck for Christophe Laporte (Visma | Lease a Bike), who crashed into a barrier on the exit of a roundabout and appeared to be in some serious discomfort after the crash and later abandoned the race.

Attacking racing was the theme of the closing part of stage 5, with numerous riders making attempts to break the elastic and spring clear, while race leader Ivan Romeo (Movistar) still defended his race jersey, though he was located towards the back of the front group.

A textbook attacking move from Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) came with 19 kilometres to go, with the Belgian launching from the back of the group, but it was soon brought back with a real cagey and tactical affair ongoing in the remaining kilometres.

Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) was the next rider to launch from the front group, and he was soon joined by Norwegian Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), with the latter dropped with 10 kilometres remaining, leaving Campenaerts solo ahead with the Belgian caught just before the final climb. 

Tom Pidcock rocketed on the final climb, leaving the opposition in the dust, with only Jan Christen able to chase behind, but Pidcock held on to win the stage, with Christen coming home in second and Romain Grégoire (Groupama -FDJ United) taking third on the stage.

Romeo's hefty advantage before the stage saw the Spaniard hold on to win his first-ever general classification of a stage race.