It has been a fruitful day yesterday for the French team AG2R-La Mondiale as their tree riders proved to have good climbing legs at the fifth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico, while Carlos Betancur took the spoils at the Paris Nice. With Jean-Christophe Peraud, Domenico Pozzovivo and Rinaldo Nocentini finishing fifth, eighth and tenth respectively, the French World Tour squad has been the most strongly represented one inside the top ten results and their leaders significantly improved their positions in the general classification.

Yesterday’s fifth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico turned out to be a far more dramatic spectacle than it was originally expected as excellent Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) took a gamble and attacked the group of leaders on a penultimate climb with no less than 32 kilometers to go, opening big time gaps.

Before the Spanish climber took flight, however, it was the AG2R-La Mondiale co-leader Peraud who appeared to be equally strong as Contador and Quintana (Movistar Team), and as a result the Frenchman dictated a fierce pace in a chasing group between the penultimate climb and a finish line.

Together with Pozzovivo and Nocentini, Peraud managed to significantly improve his position in the general classification as an extremely aggressive racing cracked many former protagonists of the race, including the leader Michał Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) – despite his impressive versatility still having a lot to improve to match the best climbers in their natural environment.

While Peraud finished in the respectable fifth place, Pozzovivo regretted he lacked confidence on the final climb to stay with his team mate and gain some more time, while he eventually crossed the line eighth, 2’56” behind the new maglia azurra holder.

“In the end I didn’t believe, otherwise I would have gone with him,” Pozzovivo said just after crossing the finish line, referring to the action of his team-mate Peraud, who “pulled so strongly on the last kilometers.”.

Still, the petite Italian climber was satisfied with the progress he made in regards to both the general classification and his disposition. He also acknowledged that Contador is the one to watch right now since he went back “to his level”.