Euskaltel go off the radar in Tirreno

Samuel Sánchez and co. were forced to look down at their legs rather than ahead in Sunday's hilly fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.

Save for Garikoitz Bravo's breakaway antics early on in the race, the Italian WorldTour event has been short on joy for Euskaltel.

Sunday's 230km leg to Chieti, ending with a short, steep climb to the line, did not change much in that regard for the riders in orange.

As expected, the wily Joaquim Rodríguez darted to the win, besting Bauke Mollema and Alberto Contador with consummate ease. Euskaltel's top man was naturally team leader Samuel Sánchez, but the 34-year-old could only muster 22nd on the day as he builds steadily for the Giro d'Italia in May.

Going into the last pair of stages, Sánchez is also the team's best-placed on GC in 25th.

Results (full results here):

• (1, Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha), 6:06:43)
• 22, Samuel Sánchez, 1:20
• 34, Egoi Martínez, 4:01
• 57, Jorge Azanza, 10:10
• 81, Robert Vrecer, 14:05
• 82, Ricardo García, s.t.
• 102, Ioannis Tamouridis, 22:18
• 121, Miguel Mínguez, s.t.
• 150, Garikoitz Bravo, 22:25

General classification:

• (1, Chris Froome (Sky), 22:11:53)
• 25, Samuel Sánchez, 5:27
• 35, Egoi Martínez, 12:26
• 46, Jorge Azanza, 18:25
• 65, Robert Vrecer, 25:54
• 95, Ricardo García, 35:48
• 111, Miguel Mínguez, 40:04
• 114, Ioannis Tamouridis, 40:18
• 156, Garikoitz Bravo, 49:56

Photo: Orbea