Dalby Forest, England — For the second straight day, a Rock Racing rider figured prominently in a long breakaway at the Tour of Britain. But the difference Thursday on Stage 5 was the end result.
Victor Hugo Peña earned Rock Racing its second top five finish with fourth place in a challenging 102-mile (164 km) race from Hull to Dalby Forest that finished with back-to-back-to-back categorized climbs in the final 17 miles (27 km).
On the opening stage in London, Rahsaan Bahati scored a fifth-place finish for Rock Racing in a field sprint.
It was on the final climb to the finish Thursday that Peña – a former Tour de France yellow jersey wearer – made his move, attacking his four breakaway companions with less than a mile to go. His valiant effort to solo away followed a monumental chase after he had been dropped on each of the two previous climbs.
“I closed a 30-second gap to (Danilo) Di Luca and (Matthew) Goss and caught up to them with five kilometers (3.1 miles) to go,” Peña said. “At the end, I played my game and did what I thought to win.”
But 500 meters from the finish, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Columbia) powered his way back to Peña and passed the Colombian climber on the steep pitch to the line to secure his second straight stage victory.
“At the moment I attacked, I was thinking I could win,” Peña said, “but he (Hagen) was really strong.”
Hagen, who was also part of a day-long breakaway on Stage 4, bridged across a 12-second gap with Peña at the 24-mile mark after Team Columbia worked hard to reduce a minute’s lead to an original breakaway trio of Goss, Di Luca and Travis Meyer (South Australia.com).
Once together, the five in front stretched their lead to as many as six minutes before the Agritubel team worked to reduce the margin. Later, Team Slipstream-Chipotle presented by H30 assisted in the chase.
Rock Racing’s Fred Rodriguez, who was part of an earlier breakaway, said covering moves has become the team’s game plan after the disappointment of Stage 3 on Tuesday. On that rainy, crash-filled afternoon, all but 23 of 91 riders finished in a group more than 13 minutes behind the leaders – effectively ending Rock Racing's hopes for the overall classification.
“It’s a big gamble on what break is going to work, so we cover as many as we can,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not so interested in being in (a break) myself as I am covering them so I can help out my teammates.”
Friday’s Stage 6 figures to be another challenging day in the saddle. Two Category 3 climbs come in the first half of the 96-mile (154 km) race. What follows is a jaunt through twisting, up-and-down coastal roads as the course heads north to its finish in Newcastle Gateshead.
Photos: Vero Image
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