Barrenetxea fastest in exciting final stage of Ruta del Sol, Sivakov secures overall victory

Jon Barrenetxea won the fifth and final stage of the Ruta Del Sol. The Movistar rider was part of the early breakaway that managed to hold on until the finish line. Tobias Halland Johannessen and Johannes Staune-Mittet could not keep up with the Spaniard. Pavel Sivakov's overall lead was never in danger. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider finished with the rest of the peloton, 35 seconds behind the winner.

The final stage in Spain started intensely, so many climbers saw their chance to break away. Paul Double (Jayco-AlUla) and Jordan Labrosse (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) were the first to make their move, but it quickly became clear that the race would be tough. Enric Mas (Movistar) broke away, but Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and Axel Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers) also made the jump. Twenty riders formed the front of the race, with Johannes Staune-Mittet and Nicolas Prodhomme the best placed: the AG2R La Mondiale duo were about three minutes behind.

This group reached the top of the Puerto del Mardoño, a first-category climb. In the hilly first half of the day, the gap increased to about 2:30 minutes, but leader Pavel Sivakov did not have anyone from his team with him. As a result, UAE Team Emirates-XRG had to do most of the work.

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Fun finale for the leading group

They traveled through the hilly first part of the stage, followed by a flat section of fifty to sixty kilometers to the finish. The leading group worked well together to secure a possible victory. It looked like they would succeed because the UAE let it happen in the peloton. They kept the leading group at a manageable distance (about a minute and a half) so that Pavel Sivakov's leader's jersey would remain safe.

This allowed the leading group to battle for the win. However, the riders' willingness to work together quickly deteriorated. With twenty kilometers to go to the finish line, just when a possible stage victory seemed within reach, the game began. Attack after attack, six riders finally created a definitive lead. Staune-Mittet, Barrenetxea, Johannessen, Thomas Gachignard, Giovanni Carboni, and Iker Mintegi. The remaining leading group could no longer hold on and was eventually caught by the peloton in the final kilometers.

Barrenetxea fastest and bizarre situation in the last five kilometers

At the front, the game unfolded in an amusing battle between the front runners. Gachignard and Mintegi had to drop out in the final due to a mishap, and Carboni was also hindered, so we did not see him up front again. Three riders remained in the final kilometers. Despite several attacks, it ended up coming down to a sprint, in which Barrenetxea was the fastest, ahead of Johannessen and Staune-Mittet. The peloton followed 35 seconds behind.

Incidentally, there was a bizarre moment in the final kilometers in which several riders almost crashed on the back of a motorbike. With less than five kilometers to go, they had to traverse a small river via a narrow cobblestone bridge. Although it is wonderful to see a group of breakaway riders battling for victory, it is fortunate that a peloton with sprinters did not have to cross here in the final stretch. The consequences could have been disastrous.

Results fifth stage & final GC Ruta Del Sol 2025

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