Caleb Ewan surged to victory in the fifth stage of the Vuelta

Australia’s Caleb Ewan won the fifth stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Wednesday to clinch his first Grand Tour Stage as Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin became the new race leader.

Slovakia’s Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) was unable to add to his victory in stage three but retained the green points jersey with a solid, if worn out, third place finish behind Ewan and Degenkolb. He finished well clear and had ample room to celebrate his success over far more experienced riders.

Luxembourg’s Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC) took fourth place before a chasing group containing the likes of Dumoulin and Britain’s Chris Froome (Team Sky) was led over the line two seconds down by Spaniard Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar).

Dutchman Dumoulin (Giant) leads the general classification going into Thursday’s sixth stage to Sierra de Cazorla by one second from Colombian Chaves, with Irish cousins Nicolas Roche (Team Sky, +16sec) and Daniel Martin (Cannondale, +27) in third and fourth respectively.

Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) finished two seconds later than Ewan and was handed the race leader’s red jersey after taking time bonuses.

“It was super tough up there”. My team put me into flawless position, I started the climb at the front.

Ewan is riding his first Grand Tour and said beforehand that he was unlikely to complete the full three weeks.

Having fallen in the early parts of Stage 2, Bouhanni’s efforts to claim second in the final sprint were surprising and impressive.

Keisse attempted to make his move but was caught by the peloton with 10km remaining and it was Ewan who timed in right and had the staying power and pace to pass Degenkolb and raised his arms aloft after crossing the line.

“To beat some of the top sprinters in the world, especially riders like Degenkolb or Sagan, on a climbing finish like that, that means a lot to me”. “That kind of finish suits them but my team did an awesome job and delivered me perfectly”.

“I’m feeling lots of emotion, I’m so happy”, he continued.