La Vuelta 2012 Stage 5: Stybar 17th in Sprint Finish

La Vuelta 2012 Stage 5: Stybar 17th in Sprint Finish

Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Zdenek Stybar finished 15th in flat stage, 168km Stage 5 of La Vuelta a Espana on Wednesday.

A lone rider — Javier Chacon (Andalucia) — attacked in the first kilometer of racing and built up 12 minutes of a time gap at one point. The peloton slowly reeled him in as the course featured an 8 lap, 21km circuit. In the final 20km, Chacon was finally caught and OPQS worked heavily at the front to control the tempo, and potentially set up a rider for a stage victory.

Position at the front of the peloton continued to change for teams inside the final kilometer, as the peloton was spread across the road trying to set up leadout trains. It was John Degenkolb, however, who earned the stage victory for Argos-Shimano. Daniele Bennati (Radioshack-Nissan) was 2nd and Gianni Meersman (Lotto-Belisol) was 3rd. 

The team looks next to a 175.4km stage on Thursday.

"It was a fast race," Steegmans said. "It was extremely warm today but I was really motivated. I had good legs, so I didn't feel the heat that much. I was pretty focused. We were on the left side in the last kilometers, with teams to the right of us. Teams started to pass us, and we tried to go around but we were a bit in the wind due to the roundabouts. Then I tried to stay on Niki Terpstra and Styby's wheel, but the speed was so high, going back to the front was not possible. We will see for the next stages. I hope my shape stays like this, and we can have a little bit more luck when there are other chances."