As it happened: A reduced bunch sprint on Volta a Catalunya stage 5

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 5 of the Volta a Catalunya!

Around half an hour to go until today's stage gets underway.

Here's a look back at the results of yesterday's fourth stage which ended with a sprint finish.

A look at Marijn van den Berg celebrating the win in Lleida.

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There was no big change in the GC yesterday. Tadej Pogačar remains in the overall lead by 2:27 ahead of Mikel Landa, while Aleksandr Vlasov is in third at 2:55.

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UAE Team Emirates racer finishes safely in main peloton on bunch-sprint stage 4

The riders will soon be heading to the start of the stage.

The riders are rolling out in the neutral zone in Altafulla.

167km to go

The flag has dropped and stage 5 is underway!

Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) and Idar Andersen (Uno-X Mobility) are on the attack early on.

Tejada is in the mountain classification jersey though he's only third in the competition.

155km to go

The pair have been brought back now, however. More attacks fly at the front.

Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep) and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) were on the move but nothing has gone away so far.

Rolling roads to start the day but not major hills.

146km to go

More riders on the move now.

Some big names in this move.

Leknessund is out there, as are Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Attila Valter (Visma-Lease A Bike).

Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) and Ivan Garcia Cortina (Movistar) are among the other riders on the attack.

138km to go

The nine-man attack group have around 30 seconds.so

Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R) is chasing the break.

Valter, Thomas, Konrad, Garcia Cortina, Leknessund have Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost), Javier Romo (Movistar), Vadim Pronskiy (Astana Qazaqstan), and Jarrad Drizners (Lotto-Dstny) with them in the move.

It's all back together again now, though, as the riders near the first intermediate sprint of the day at La Bisbal del Penedes.

127km to go

Still all together here on stage 5.

Geraint Thomas among the riders attempting a break not so long ago.

115km to go

Still no break as the peloton passes through the intermediate sprint.

EF's Georg Steinhauser tried an attack but he couldn't get away.

Garcia Cortina led Enric Mas and Sepp Kuss over the sprint line.

The second-category Coll de Les Ventoses is coming up now.

Andreas Kron (Lotto-Dstny) made a move but he's been caught, too.

The climb is 7.7km at 4.5% and there's a hard pace going up.

100km to go

Still no move off the front.

A look at the peloton during today's stage.

Valter led the way over the top of the climb for five KOM points.

Romo, Meintjes, Castrillo are next across the line.

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A short descent and now another climb, though an unclassified one.

92km to go

Steven Kruijswijk (Visma-Lease A Bike) tries a move but he can't get away.

Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R) the next to attack.

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On the long descent off those mid-stage climbs now.

And more riders are trying to make it away.

Steinhauser on the move again along with Oscar Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), Jacopo Mosca (Lidl-Trek), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ), and Chris Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AlUla).

This might finally be a breakaway...

Splits in the peloton on the descent.

UAE Team Emirates led the front of the peloton.

The breakaway riders have 45 seconds now.

73km to go

The gap is going up and up. 1:45 now.

Around 35km to go until the day's second and final climb.

An average speed of almost 46kph so far today.

68km to go

2:35 for the breakaway.

Mosca leading the break of the day.

It's still mostly downhill on the way to the Alt de la Creu d'Aragall.

The break remain at over two minutes up the road.

Still five men in the move.

50km to go

Rodriguez, Mosca, Paleni, Steinhauser, Juul-Jensen still there.

The riders now coming towards the day's final climb, the Alt de la Creu d'Aragall.

Up frontl, the break has fallen apart.

Steinhauser is still up there as the riders push on uphill.

35km to go

Only around 30 seconds left.

Steinhauser solo out front now.

Rodriguez now back with Steinhauser on the climb.

Israel-Premier Tech lead the peloton.

A reduced peloton chasing on the climb.

A kilometre to the top of the climb.

Rodriguez leads Steinhauser over the top.

30km to go

It's almost over for them now as they begin the descent.

It's over for the break and now it's all downhill and flat to the finish at Viladecans.

A fast descent towards the final intermediate sprint at Sant Vicenç dels Horts.

Meanwhile, it's over and done with at the E3 Saxo Classic today. Here's the report and results from the race.

Riders trying to move off the front on the way down. It's a very fast descent. 

22km to go

It's still all together at the front, though.

Around 40 riders left in the lead currently.

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Into the final 20km of the day now.

Israel-Premier Tech back on the front now.

1.5km to the intermediate sprint.

Sepp Kuss among the riders trying to go for it at the intermediate sprint.

It looks like Garcia Cortina has taken it.

14km to go

And now Valter puts in an attack at the front.

More riders trying to move away at the front, though it's only a small gap.

12km to go

Chris Harper, William Junior Leclerf, Laurens De Plus, Einer Rubio, and Marc Soler were among those on the move.

Things should stick together for a reduced brunch sprint now.

10km to go

It's all together at the front.

Flat roads to the finish.

Israel-Premier Tech back on the front of the group ahead of Movistar.

There's a high pace on the run towards the finish and no further attacks.

5km to go

Still all together as the riders speed towards the sprint.

EF, Uno-X, Bora among the teams towards the front.

3km to go

EF lead the way with a rider on the front.

And now an attack from Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek).

He gets a small gap but he's quickly brought back.

More riders counter-attack at the front now.

2km to go

Caja Rural and Kern Pharma on the move here.

They have a few seconds here!

It's an uphill drag to the line, though.

1km to go

The pair are caught by the peloton.

Up and down a flyover and it's strung out at the front.

The final 700 metres or so are slightly uphill.

Alpecin, EF, Lidl, Decathlon all up front.

It's a messy run to the line.

Bryan Coquard, Marijn van den Berg, and Axel Laurance are all in the mix.

It was close between the trio with Orluis Aular just behind.

Finish

Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has just edged it to win stage 5 of the Volta a Catalunya!

The 22-year-old scores his first WorldTour win!

Laurance beat Van den Berg, Coquard, Aular, and Stephen Williams.

Laurance celebrates the stage 5 win.

Here's what Laurance had to say after his win...

"It's really amazing. It's my first year in the WorldTour team so to be able to win a stage of a WorldTour race as a first year is really nice for sure.

"I think I was in really good shape coming here. I'm still in good shape. I was focussed on the first stage and this stage in particular. Yesterday was not the plan to sprint for me and I had to do it by myself."

Tadej Pogačar will retain the overall and mountain classification lead after stage 5.

Pogačar continues in the lead by 2:27 over Mikel Landa and 2:55 over Aleksandr Vlasov.

Van den Berg will be in the points jersey after his second place. Lenny Martinez continues in the youth classification jersey.

Here's what Pogačar said after the stage...

"Today was actually a super super hard stage. I think it was one of the hardest of all the stages until now. It was one of the most attacking. It was exciting racing until the final. I'm happy it's over and tomorrow is a big mountain day and let's go for it.

"I'm looking forward to tomorrow's stage. There's one big question mark over it because there are steep climbs and a lot of climbing. A lot can happen and I'm looking forward to it."

That's all from us for today's live coverage. Be sure to come back tomorrow for more racing from Catalunya, including the brutal mid-stage Coll de Pradell (14.6km at 7.1%) and the finale at Queralt (6km at 7.2%).