Caleb Ewan claims maiden Grand Tour stage win as Tom Dumoulin seizes overall lead at Vuelta a España

Australia’s Caleb Ewan claimed his maiden Grand Tour stage victory on a dramatic day of the Vuelta a España ©Getty Images

Australia’s Caleb Ewan of the Orica-GreenEdge team clinched his maiden Grand Tour stage victory on stage five of the Vuelta a España from Rota to Alcalá de Guadaíra as Colombian team-mate Esteban Chaves relinquished his overall lead today.

The surprise win for Ewan came following a perfect set-up from the Orica outfit, who were able to control the peloton before the Aussie rider came through to pip German John Degenkolb to the line, finishing the largely-flat 167 kilometres route in 3 hours 57min 28sec.

Slovakia’s Peter Sagan, a rider for the Tinkoff-Saxo team, took third, while BMC Racing Team’s Jean-Pierre Drucker of Luxembourg did enough to claim fourth.

“It’s an incredible feeling, this is by far the biggest victory of my career,” Ewan said.

“It means a lot to me to beat two of the best sprinters in the world and that finish really suited them and they’re strong.

“I knew it would be tough to beat them but I felt good and my team did an awesome job and delivered me perfectly.

“When I crossed the line there was so much emotion, I was so happy.”

Dutchman Tom Dumoulin is the new overall race leader and he now has a one second advantage over Colombian Esteban Chaves — Dutchman Tom Dumoulin is the new overall race leader of the Vuelta a España and he now has a one second advantage over Colombian Esteban Chaves ©Getty Images

It proved to be a disappointing day for Chaves, who lost the red jersey to Dutchman Tom Dumoulin of Team Giant-Alpecin.

The Colombian was unable to finish in the top 20 and now trails Dumoulin by one second, with Team Sky’s Irishman Nicolas Roche a further 15 seconds adrift in third.

Daniel Martin of the Cannondale team, also from Ireland, is 27 seconds off the pace in fourth.

Britain’s Chris Froome, who comes into the event in fine form having secured a second Tour de France title earlier this year, remains well positioned in seventh following a 12th-place finish on this stage.

He is grouped with many of his main rivals for the Vuelta crown, including Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who surged to victory during yesterday’s fourth stage from Estepona to Vejer de la Frontera, and Valverde’s Colombian team mate Nairo Quintana.

Froome is bidding to become only the third man in the history of the sport to win both the Tour de France and the gruelling Vuelta in the same year after Jacques Anquetil of France achieved the feat in 1963 and compatriot Bernard Hinault did the difficult double in 1978.

This year’s Vuelta is due to continue tomorrow with stage seven, a medium mountain stage which encompasses a 200km route from Córdoba to Sierra de Cazorla.