Nairo Quintana gave up the lead in the Vuelta a Catalunya after the fifth stage

The British Ethan Vernon (Quick-Step) won the sprint victory in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona), in the fifth stage of the Volta a Catalunya, and Portuguese Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) snatched the overall lead from Colombia's Nairo Quintana (Team Arkéa) thanks to the second he won in the last intermediate sprint.

Thus, Quintana now occupies second place, one second behind Almeida, and his compatriot Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) remains third, seven seconds behind. For his part, Spaniard Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) is fourth, 18 behind his teammate's lead with two more stages to go.

Despite this important movement in the general standings, the day, which left La Pobla de Segur and had a distance of 206.3 km, was calm compared to the previous four and was capitalized by a getaway formed by three Spanish cyclists: Gotzon Martín (Euskaltel Euskadi), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural) and Urko Berrade ( Kern Pharma). The platoon hit them with 20 km to go.

Previously, the trio had crowned the only port of the day, the third category Coll de Comiols, located 169.3 km from the finish line, with 4 minutes and 45 seconds ahead of the day. Shortly after, he reached over 5 minutes, but, with about 100 km to go to the finish, the big group accelerated.

The UAE Team Emirates, the second-placed team in the general standings, the Portuguese Joao Almeida, even tried to form a cut by taking advantage of the wind. Their effort served to lead the squad, make the teams of the contenders for the final podium nervous and reduce the advantage of the escapees to 40 seconds.

From then on, the situation stabilized and the difference gradually narrowed, facing the stage towards the final sprint that definitely happened. But before that, there was the most tense moment of the day in the second intermediate sprint, located 16 km to the end.

The escape had already been neutralized and, therefore, three, two and one bonus seconds were in play, which meant that the favorites for the general standings struggled to catch them. The finish was very tight and it took a few minutes for the judges to rule that Almeida was third ahead of Quintana and thus snatched the lead.

The pace, conditioned by the wind, did not stop for the remainder of the stage, the stage from the Foix reservoir to the finish line in Vilanova i la Geltrú, and the attacks took place in a squad that was drastically reduced. One of those who tried it was Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (INEOS), ninth overall. But his attempt did not bear fruit and in the sprint Vernon won.

Tomorrow, Saturday, the Volta will face the sixth and penultimate stage, starting in Salou and arriving in Cambrils. The favorites in the general standings will have appropriate ground to open differences and turn the standings again, on a 167.6 km route with three ports.

The top of the first of these, the first class Coll de les Llebres-Mussara, is located 133.8 km from the end and has ramps up to 15% slope. After that, cyclists will face the descent to quickly climb back up. This time it will be a second-rate port, the Coll de Capafonts.

But the decisive attacks will probably take place in Coll de la Teixeta, also in the second category and with the top set at 28.5 km from the finish line.

If the differences between Almeida, Nairo and Higuita remain minimal, Barcelona will live a day of heart attack on Sunday to conclude this edition of the Volta.

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