CASTELRAIMONDO, Italy (AP) — Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert won the hilly fifth stage of the weeklong Tirreno-Adriatico race Sunday and Cadel Evans of Australia took the overall lead.
Gilbert covered the 149-mile leg from Chieti to Castelraimondo in 6 hours, 43 minutes, 23 seconds, beating Wouter Poels of the Netherlands and Damiano Cunego in a sprint.
Gilbert is a specialist in lengthy single-day races, having won the Giro di Lombardia the past two seasons, as well as Paris-Tours twice.
Evans leads Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso by 2 seconds, and Cunego is 3 seconds back in third, with previous leader Robert Gesink trailing by 5 seconds.
Monday’s sixth stage covers 114 miles from Ussita to Macerata.
