Tirreno-Adriatico: Simon Yates leads overall, Geraint Thomas up to third

Mitchelton-Scott’s British rider Simon Yates broke away to win stage five of Tirreno-Adriatico and take overall lead of the race.

Rafal Majka of Bora-Hansgrohe, who was third in the stage on the same time as Thomas, is in second place overall, 23 seconds ahead of the Welshman.

Michael Woods, who led after stage four, drops down to eighth.

Yates, whose twin brother Adam wore the leader’s yellow jersey at the Tour de France earlier this month, secured his stage victory with a decisive move on the final climb.

Thomas’ team-mate and Britain’s four-time Tour champion Chris Froome finished 29 minutes 17 seconds behind Yates, 150th in the stage.

Saturday’s sixth stage, initially wavy but with a flat finish, will take the riders 171km from Castelfidardo to Senigallia.

Stage five result

1. Simon Yates (GBr, Mitchelton-Scott) 5hrs 30mins 43secs

2. Geraint Thomas (GBr, Ineos Grenadiers) +35secs

3. Rafal Majka (Pol, Bora-Hansgrohe) same time

4. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus, Astana) +39secs

5. Wilco Kelderman (Ned, Sunweb) +54secs

6. James Knox (GBr, Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +58 secs

General classification

1. Simon Yates (GBr, Mitchelton-Scott) 23hrs 36mins 59secs

2. Rafal Majka (Pol, Bora-Hansgrohe) +16secs

3. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers +39secs

4. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus, Astana) +49secs

5. Fausto Masnada (Ita, Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +54secs

6. Wilco Kelderman (Ned, Sunweb) +1min

7. James Knox (GBr, Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +1min 21secs