Stage 5: Polanco - Torrelavega (173km)
David Gutiérrez powers to photo finish win as stage 5 saw more action than an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.

Stage 5 from Polanco to Torrelavega was action packed. Nothing would prepare the peloton for what was in store on a cold and miserable day for the peloton. Going up the classified climbs of the day, Palombera (Cat 1), Castillo Pedroso (Cat 2) and Alto San Martin (Cat 3), saw riders face heavy fog and cold chills. But that wasn’t the worse of the rider’s problems with a closed level crossing causing havoc for the peloton.

David Guitterez and Vincente Grau (Camargo - Ferroatlantica - Floortex), Thomas Rabou (Rabobank), Raul Castano (CCN Valencia), and William Aranzazu (Boyaca Es Para Vivirla) were part of a 10 man break that got away in the opening kilometers into the stage.

Spanish team, (Burgos Monumental - Castilla Y Leon) were controlling the race for yellow jersey holder Rafael Valls letting that break go with Raul Castano the best placed of the breakaway riders, just over 7 minutes down. Well, so they thought they were riding the perfect race giving the group around 5 minutes with 79km to go until all hell broke loose. The breakaway successfully managed to go over a railway crossing and then when the peloton came, it was closed. The peloton had to wait a good four minutes for the train to pass by. When the race resumed, the break had over 10 minutes advantage and it put a lot of extra work on Burgos to bring the race under control to protect the lead.

Burgos Monumental sacrified the KOM jersey belonging to Diego Gallego to protect the overall lead of Valls when the break got away. Thomas Rabou (Rabobank) saw that as a perfect opportunity to try and steal the KOM away from his rival. Training by 11 points, Rabou was determined to make up the gap. When the only Cat 1 climb of the day came, Rabou took maximum points with Aranzazu and Grau filling up the top 3. He was nearly there. When the cat 2 climb approached, Rabou again crossed over first gathering another six points. Aranzazu again was second and stage winner, Guiterrez was third. Rabou had the KOM jersey but decided to show his climbing ability again. He crossed over the last climb first to take another three points with Aranzazu no match taking second again and Grau third.

With 34km to go and after knowing they had a huge advantage over the peloton, the group of 10 was cut down to a group of 4. Grau attacked his breakaway companions in Saron. William Aranzazu and Thomas Rabou had to go after him leaving Guiterrez to follow conserving his energy. The move paid off for Guiterrez as his rivals chased for 32km until Grau was caught 2km from the finish.

Guiterrez, who rode the perfect race, waited for his time to pounce and he did with a couple hundred metres to go to take the stage win. But, who got the stage win? Not one person knew after the riders crossed the line. The sprint was that tightly contested that all four riders were part of a photo finish. After close deliberation, Guiterrez was awarded the stage win and great team-work was shown.

For Guiterrez, this was his sixth win of the season scoring three seconds and five third positions along the way. The question was asked, why isn’t this guy a professional?

A reporter, in a post race interview, posed the question. What does David have to do to become a professional? “I wish I knew. Whatever is in my hand, I do. I think it took four to five years proving that I deserve a chance. Another thing is do I want to or not? Everyone says yes, but nobody approaches me. And here I am” replied the 27 year old cyclist.

After the event that nearly caused the race to be turned upside down, a photo finish was a good way to conclude the stage. What’s in store for the riders on stage 6 from Torrelavega to Santo Toribio over 143.6km? Only time will tell.

Stage 5 Classification
1 22 GUTIÉRREZ GUTIÉRREZ, David CAMARGO - FERROATLANTICA - FLOORTEX ESP 4:26:22
2 185 RABOU, Thomas RABOBANK NED m.t.
3 127 ARANZAZU ESCOBAR, William BOYACA ES PARA VIVIRLA COL m.t.
4 27 GRAU JORDA, Vicente O CAMARGO - FERROATLANTICA - FLOORTEX ESP m.t.
5 145 BERTHOU, Eric CARMIOORO - A STYLE FRA +57
6 36 BALLESTA PARRA, José M CCN VALENCIA TERRA Y MAR ESP +57
7 42 CARRAL FERNÁNDEZ, Eloy CUEVA EL SOPLAO ESP +59
8 34 CASTAÑO YUSTE, Raúl CCN VALENCIA TERRA Y MAR ESP +59
9 45 LOBATO VALLE, Juan José CUEVA EL SOPLAO ESP +05:45
10 182 VAN POPPEL, Boy RABOBANK NED +05:45
11 1 MONTENEGRO, Jorge Martín ANDALUCÍA - CAJASUR ARG +05:45
12 86 RODRÍGUEZ SEGARRA, Rafael SUPERMERCADOS FROIZ ESP +05:45
13 151 KRITSKIY, Timofey KATYUSHA CONTINENTAL TEAM RUS +05:45
14 113 ENGOULVENT, Jimmy BESSON CHAUSSURES - SOJASUN FRA +05:45
15 183 KREDER, Michel RABOBANK NED +05:45
16 46 MORA ORTIZ, Arturo CUEVA EL SOPLAO ESP +05:45
17 194 GOTTFRIED, Alexander TEAM KUOTA - INDELAND GER +05:45
18 24 SUAÑA MARTÍN, Alfonso CAMARGO - FERROATLANTICA - FLOORTEX ESP +05:45
19 44 LARA ARJONILLA, Jose Carlos CUEVA EL SOPLAO ESP +05:45
20 26 PEÑA SEIS DEDOS, Aaron CAMARGO - FERROATLANTICA - FLOORTEX ESP +05:45
Complete Stage Classification

General Classification after stage 5
1 136 VALLS FERRI, Rafael BURGOS MONUMENTAL - CASTILLA Y LEÓN ESP 22:00:37
2 86 RODRÍGUEZ SEGARRA, Rafael SUPERMERCADOS FROIZ ESP +07
3 172 MIZBANI IRANAGH, Ghader PETROCHEMICAL TABRIZ CYCLING TEAM IRI +20
4 181 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay RABOBANK USA +24
5 87 OYARZUN GUIÑEZ, Carlos I SUPERMERCADOS FROIZ CHI +32
6 102 VALLEJO FERNÁNDEZ, Ángel ANDORRA - GRANDVALIRA ESP +42
7 164 CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS, Jonathan ORBEA ESP +54
8 183 KREDER, Michel RABOBANK NED +01:02
9 117 TALABARDON, Yannick BESSON CHAUSSURES - SOJASUN FRA +01:08
10 31 BELDA MIRA, Jose CCN VALENCIA TERRA Y MAR ESP +01:10
11 125 BELDA GARCÍA, David BOYACA ES PARA VIVIRLA ESP +01:28
12 141 PARDILLA BELLÓN, Sergio CARMIOORO - A STYLE ESP +01:45
13 131 GALLEGO ARNAIZ, Diego BURGOS MONUMENTAL - CASTILLA Y LEÓN ESP +02:13
14 103 GARCÍA DE MATEO RUBIO, Raúl ANDORRA - GRANDVALIRA ESP +02:17
15 61 PÉREZ RODRÍGUEZ, Israel EXTREMADURA - SPIUK ESP +02:33
16 34 CASTAÑO YUSTE, Raúl CCN VALENCIA TERRA Y MAR ESP +02:52
17 171 MIZOUROV, Andrei PETROCHEMICAL TABRIZ CYCLING TEAM IRI +02:56
18 32 TORRELLA GÓMEZ, Francisco CCN VALENCIA TERRA Y MAR ESP +03:27
19 167 SICARD, Romain ORBEA FRA +03:55
20 186 AERNOUTS, Bart RABOBANK BEL +03:55
Complete General Classification

Points Classification
1 1 MONTENEGRO, Jorge Martín ANDALUCÍA - CAJASUR ARG 45
2 86 RODRÍGUEZ SEGARRA, Rafael SUPERMERCADOS FROIZ ESP 44
3 183 KREDER, Michel RABOBANK NED 36
4 113 ENGOULVENT, Jimmy BESSON CHAUSSURES - SOJASUN FRA 34
5 27 GRAU JORDA, Vicente O CAMARGO - FERROATLANTICA - FLOORTEX ESP 26
6 136 VALLS FERRI, Rafael BURGOS MONUMENTAL - CASTILLA Y LEÓN ESP 26
7 31 BELDA MIRA, Jose CCN VALENCIA TERRA Y MAR ESP 25
8 153 MIRONOV, Alexander KATYUSHA CONTINENTAL TEAM RUS 25
9 22 GUTIÉRREZ GUTIÉRREZ, David CAMARGO - FERROATLANTICA - FLOORTEX ESP 25
10 115 MARINO, Jean Marc BESSON CHAUSSURES - SOJASUN FRA 25
Complete Points Classification

Climbers Classification
1 185 RABOU, Thomas RABOBANK NED 43
2 131 GALLEGO ARNAIZ, Diego BURGOS MONUMENTAL - CASTILLA Y LEON ESP 35
3 87 OYARZUN GUIÑEZ, Carlos I SUPERMERCADOS FROIZ CHI 30
4 86 RODRIGUEZ SEGARRA, Rafael SUPERMERCADOS FROIZ ESP 23
5 127 ARANZAZU ESCOBAR, William BOYACA ES PARA VIVIRLA COL 18
6 101 TORRENT TARRES, Carlos ANDORRA - GRANDVALIRA ESP 18
7 31 BELDA MIRA, Jose CCN VALENCIA TERRA Y MAR ESP 16
8 135 SANTAMARTA VALBUENA, Raúl BURGOS MONUMENTAL - CASTILLA Y LEON ESP 16
9 102 VALLEJO FERNANDEZ, Angel ANDORRA - GRANDVALIRA ESP 15
10 143 TERRENZIO, Fabio CARMIOORO - A STYLE ITA 13

Sprint Classification
1 104 GARCIA DE MATEO RUBIO, Vicente ANDORRA - GRANDVALIRA ESP 4
2 102 VALLEJO FERNÁNDEZ, Ángel ANDORRA - GRANDVALIRA ESP 3
3 27 GRAU JORDA, Vicente O CAMARGO - FERROATLANTICA - FLO ESP 3
4 135 SANTAMARTA VALBUENA, Raúl BURGOS MONUMENTAL - CASTILLA Y ESP 3
5 101 TORRENT TARRES, Carlos ANDORRA - GRANDVALIRA ESP 3
6 136 VALLS FERRI, Rafael BURGOS MONUMENTAL - CASTILLA Y ESP 2
7 103 GARCÍA DE MATEO RUBIO, Raúl ANDORRA - GRANDVALIRA ESP 2
8 142 TAMAYO MARTÍNEZ, Diego A CARMIOORO - A STYLE COL 2
9 127 ARANZAZU ESCOBAR, William BOYACA ES PARA VIVIRLA COL 2
10 185 RABOU, Thomas RABOBANK NED 2

Team Classification
1 CCN CCN VALENCIA TERRA Y MAR ESP 65:57:38
2 RB3 RABOBANK NED 02:25
3 TPT PETROCHEMICAL TABRIZ CYCLING TEAM IRI 08:553
4 BOY BOYACA ES PARA VIVIRLA COL 10:40
5 ORB ORBEA ESP 13:29
6 SFR SUPERMERCADOS FROIZ ESP 13:31
7 ANG ANDORRA - GRANDVALIRA AND 14:26
8 VMC BURGOS MONUMENTAL - CASTILLA Y LEÓN ESP 15:37
9 FES CUEVA EL SOPLAO ESP 16:52
10 EXS EXTREMADURA - SPIUK ESP 16:54
11 BUC CAJA RURAL ESP 17:13
12 SCA CAMARGO - FERROATLANTICA - FLOORTEX ESP 23:03
13 KTA KATYUSHA CONTINENTAL TEAM RUS 23:10
14 BCO ANDALUCÍA - CAJASUR ESP 27:09
15 BCS BESSON CHAUSSURES - SOJASUN FRA 27:12
16 CMO CARMIOORO - A STYLE ITA 34:42
17 AGA LIZARTE ESP 49:45
18 DIL DIPUTAC. LEON - DEYSER TEAM ESP 1:05:19
19 TRA TRASMIERA FUJI ESP 1:54:20

Circuito Montañes Stages
Stage 1: Santander - Maliaño (172 km)
Stage 2: Santoña - Ramal de la Victoria (175.5 km)
Stage 3: Miengo-El Astillero (178.1km)
Stage 4: Agua De Solares – Fuente Del Chivo (145,7 Km)

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