JOHN DEGENKOLB WON his second straight stage in a controversial sprint finish at the Vuelta à Espana.
Degenkolb held off the challenge of France’s Nacer Bouhanni to win the 180-kilometre fifth stage into Ronda and retain the green jersey for another day.
Bouhanni claimed afterwards that Degenkolb had boxed him in against the barrier in the final metres.
But the replays showed that Degenkolb stuck to his racing line and that Bouhanni’s decision to attack on the inside had been a mistake.
Michael Matthews finished in the sprint and stretched his general classification lead over Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde to 13 and 20 seconds respectively.
Ireland’s Dan Martin finished in 40th place. He remains fourth in the points classification and 19th overall.