"There was quite some stress with 50km to go" - Primoz Roglic survives stressful sprint stage unscathed at the Vuelta a Espana

Although a relatively calm day for the most part, switching off is always a danger to general classification hopefuls in a Grand Tour, something Primoz Roglic knows all too well.

On stage 5 of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, the Red Jersey wearing Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe leader was thankfully able to avoid another trip to the tarmac, escaping a stressful and windy finale to the day that saw Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL's Pavel Bittner take his first Grand Tour win ahead of Wout van Aert and Kaden Groves in a tight bunch sprint finish.

"The team did a really good job. We were in the front and that’s another one done," Roglic reflected of the day upbeat in his post-stage interview afterwards. "It was not really about creating echelons. The whole peloton started to push after an easy day. And then there was quite some stress with 50km to go. And then it calmed down a bit."

What that means is that the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe leader retains an 8 second lead atop the general classification from second placed Joao Almeida of UAE Team Emirates, with Enric Mas completing the podium at this early stage, 32 seconds down on Roglic. With stage 6 having plenty of potential endings, it will be another day where Roglic needs to remain focused.

2024 Vuelta a Espana stage 5 results: