by Stephanie Gutowski

Stage 5 was a very difficult mountain time trial. Riders had to manage 11.4km of riding with an average gradient value of 10.5% in the pouring rain

Italian Francesco Masciarelli (Acqua e Sappone-Caffe Mokambo) won the stage. The young Italian rider completed the difficult course in 41 minutes 38 seconds and gained 2 minutes advantage to 2nd place rider, Valentin Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan National Team. Masciarelli took both the red mountain jersey and the green leaders jersey.

Francesco Masciarelli
Photo c. Tour of Japan

Stage 5 Results:

1 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 4.17.09
2 Kam-Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling
3 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo
4 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team
5 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada
6 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada
7 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team
8 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada
9 Thijs Zonneveld (Ned) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team
10 Yoshinori Iino (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello
11 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo
12 Cameron Meyer (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS
13 Yasutaka Tashiro (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor
14 Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team
15 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
16 Timo Honstein (Ger) Team Sparkasse
17 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team
18 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Skil - Shimano
19 Francesco Di Paolo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo
20 Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team

Masciarelli climbing Mt. Fuji
Photo c. Tour of Japan

General classification after Stage 5:

1 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 15.45.32
2 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 2.03
3 Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 2.24
4 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 2.25
5 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 2.29
6 Yasutaka Tashiro (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 3.36
7 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil - Shimano 3.40
8 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 4.05
9 Timo Honstein (Ger) Team Sparkasse 4.14
10 Chris Froome (Ken) Team Konica Minolta 4.24
11 Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 4.27
12 William Ford (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 4.32
13 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team 4.45
14 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada 4.54
15 Francesco Di Paolo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 5.00
16 Thijs Zonneveld (Ned) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 5.11
17 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada
18 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 6.38
19 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil - Shimano
20 Kam-Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 7.12

Masciarelli at the start.
Photo c. Tour of Japan