A masterful double among the Catalan winds. Matthew Brennan surprised everyone in the fifth stage of the Volta a Catalunya, the Paüls - Amposta of 165.9 km. Second victory for the British rider after the opening stage, a burst in the final 100 meters that lined up the main group: second Tibor Del Grosso (Alpecin - Deceuninck), third Pavel Bittner (Team Picnic PostNL).

The race was characterized by strong winds, with the breakaway struggling to get away due to the weather conditions. After various attacks, Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), Micheal Leonard (INEOS Grenadiers), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ), Jan Castellon (Caja Rural- Seguros RGA), Mats Wenzel (Equipo Kern Pharma), Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euksadi) and Jokin Murguialday (Euskaltel-Euskadi) managed to break away from the main group, which however controlled the advantage, not letting them go beyond two minutes.

With 20 km to go, there was a regrouping: amid poor organization and pressure from INEOS, the group split into two sections, with some general classification riders left behind by a few seconds. At the Amposta finish line, the reduced sprint was decided by a sudden acceleration from Brennan, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider who seemed closed on the left, but with a burst he clearly won his third career race. Ayuso instead took advantage of the intermediate sprint bonifications to snatch the leader's jersey from Roglic, with the Spaniard having a one-second advantage over the Slovenian. Tomorrow's decisive stage, the Berga - Queralt of 159 kilometers, will most likely decide the overall standings.

FINISH ORDER

1. James Matthew Brennan GBR (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) in 3h28'14"

2. Tibor del Grosso NED (Alpecin-Deceuninck) s.t.

3. Pavel Bittner CZE (Team Picnic PostNL) s.t.

4. Marijn Van den Berg NED (EF Education - EasyPost) s.t.

5. Corbin Strong AUS (Israel - Premier Tech) s.t.

6. Axel Laurance FRA (INEOS Grenadiers) s.t.

7. Dorian Godon FRA (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) s.t.

8. Nico Denz GER (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) s.t.

9. Eric Antonio Fagúndez URU (Burgos Burpellet BH) s.t.

10. Juan Ayuso ESP (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) s.t.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Juan Ayuso ESP (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in 22h23'03"

2. Primoz Roglic SLO (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) at 1"

3. Enric Mas ESP (Movistar Team) at 21"

4. Mikel Landa ESP (Soudal Quick-Step) at 22"

5. Lenny Martinez FRA (Bahrain - Victorious) at 28"

6. Laurens De Plus BEL (INEOS Grenadiers) at 59"

7. Egan Bernal COL (INEOS Grenadiers) at 59"

8. Lennert Ban Eetvelt BEL (Lotto) at 1'10"

9. Simon Yates GBR (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) at 1'14"

10. Richard Carapaz ECU (EF Education - EasyPost) at 1'27"