Two weeks before the start of the Tour of Italy, Bardet, 31, becomes the third Frenchman to win this stage race between Italy and Austria, after Luc Leblanc in 1997 and Thibaut Pinot in 2018, a year before his success at the Tourmalet in July 2019 in the Tour de France, his last success to date.

In the general classification, Bardet leads Michael Storer (Groupama FDJ) by 14 seconds and his teammate Thymen Arensman by 16 seconds.

In ambush in the peloton, Bardet controlled his direct opponent, the Spaniard Pello Bilbao (Bahrain) leader's green jersey for two days, before letting him go irretrievably in the final to erase his two seconds delay at the start of the stage. .

"I'm really very happy with this victory, especially in the way. I'm proud of our team. It's been two years of development and everyone has joined the project. Besides, we had driven a lot together with Thymen (Arensman) this winter. When I saw that we were together in this little group of three in front of the peloton at the end, I said to myself + It's good, they won't see us again +. And Thymen played his game really well. role" commented the climber on arrival.

Bilbao only crossed the line 40 seconds behind Bardet and is even deprived of a podium.

Pinot, he took his revenge on the cruel scenario of Thursday, when the Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) had deposited him in the last kilometer, winning in the sprint in front of the Spaniard David de La Cruz (Astana) .

"It's a big relief for me to win, in addition to the Tour des Alpes which is my favorite event. Winning here is something very strong for me," said Pinot, 31, on arrival. on Eurosport.

Thibaut Pinot before the 5th stage of Tirreno Adriatico on March 11, 2022 between Sefro and Fermo, in Italy Luca Bettini AFP / Archives

"Today I had rage. Even if it was raining, I wanted this one, and I knew I had great legs" he also added to the microphone of the L'Equipe channel.

Escaped from the first kilometers with a dozen runners, in formidable weather conditions mixing wind and rain, Pinot and de La Cruz, very comfortable in the descent of the Banneberg, then broke away to find themselves "Mano a Mano" to the finish line, never taken back by the chasing group which withered away as the difficulties arose.

© 2022 AFP