Bikes: Coma wins shortened stage five to open huge lead

The race was shortened due to the searing heat, meaning Coma was declared the winner in a time of 3:02:08.

Coma was 12 minutes, 54 seconds quicker than fellow Spaniard Jordi Viladom with Poland’s Kuba Przygonski a further 10 minutes back in third.

"It was another tough day. It was really hot out there. It's also difficult in terms of navigation as well because of the rain last week which makes it difficult to see anything," said Coma.

"To get to the end of the stage, I rode for 10km lost in a river bed. In general, it's tough for everyone. For the race lead, you can lose lots of time at any moment. When you open the way, it's a bit like playing Russian roulette."

Friday’s sixth stage on Friday sees the bikers ride from Tucuman to Salta.

1 Marc Coma (ESP) 3:02:08

2 Jordi Viladoms (ESP) 3:15:02 +12:54

3 Jakub Przygonski (POL) 3:24:53 +22:45

4 Hélder Rodrigues (POR) 3:28:01 +25:53

5 Riaan Van Niekerk (RSA) 3:34:12 +32:04

6 Juan Carlos Salvatierra (BOL) 3:35:20 +33:12

7 Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP) 3:36:11 +34:03

8 Stefan Svitko (SVK) 3:38:46 +36:38

9 Rob van Pelt (NED) 3:39:12 +37:04

10 Daniel Gouet (CHI) 3:40:01 +37:53

1 Marc Coma 18:45:11

2 Joan Barreda Bort + 41:10

3 Francisco Lopez Contardo + 53:41

4 Jordi Viladoms + 58:58

5 Alain Duclos + 1:02:13

6 Olivier Pain + 1:12:22

7 Jakub Przygonski + 1:14:27

8 Cyril Despres + 1:23:01

9 Jeremias Israel Esquerre + 1:23:30

10 Stefan Svitko + 1:30:13