“Some teams had strange tactics" - Tim Merlier disappointed at lack of cohesion in chase on stage 5 at Giro d'Italia

The sprinters were left fighting for scraps on stage 5 of the 2024 Giro d'Italia instead of battling for the win as Benjamin Thomas took victory from the breakaway, much to stage 3 winner, Tim Merlier's disappointment.

“Some teams had strange tactics," the Soudal - Quick-Step sprinter assesses ruefully of the day in his post-stage interview with his team's official social media pages. "You see what happens when you don't work well together. Then you have a breakaway that will stay in front."

After bunch sprints on the previous two stages, stage 5 had looked a cert to be something similar, especially given most of the climbing took place with over 100km still to go. On that early climb, though, Alpecin-Deceuninck set an infernal pace, dropping most sprinters and catching the early break. In the end, it was the counter-attack breakaway, led by Benjamin Thomas that stayed away until the end.

"It was a strong breakaway but I can't believe they stayed in front because it was pretty, pretty fast. But yeah, they made it so chapeau!" Merlier concludes. "Some teams had the tactic to drop other sprinters but they killed their own team I think. Not a day for the sprinters today, congrats to the breakaway."