Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) won stage 5 of the Giro d’Italia in a hectic mass sprint for the finish in Messina. The Frenchman hit the line just ahead of Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech) after 174km stage that started in Catania.
It was the first victory of 2022 for Démare. However, it wasn't a straightforward buildup for sprinters on the final day on the Mediterranean Island of Sicily.
Many of the sprinters, including Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), fell out of contention on the day’s main climb. Following the intermediate sprint at Francavilla di Sicilia after 55km, the route eased upward for another 20km to the summit of the category 2 Portella Mandrazzi. Alpecin-Fenix riders increased the pace at the front en masse and large splits began to form.
While the Cavendish and Ewan groups never made it back to the front, Démare used his Groupama-FDJ teammates to rejoin the leaders and then launch for the victory in the final 800 metres.
Unlike the finish on Mount Etna that shook up the general classification the day before, Wednesday's overall leaderboard remained the same with Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo), the stage 4 runner-up, remaining in front of Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), the stage 4 winner.
Watch the highlights of the opening stage above.
