A powerful final burst from Diego Ulissi helped the Italian cyclist win the fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Wednesday, while Australian rider Michael Matthews retained the overall leader’s maglia rosa (pink shirt).
Ulissi came from behind with 150m to go to cross the line solo, with his arms raised high in celebration, at the end of the 203km leg from Taranto to Viggiano.
Australia’s Cadel Evans was second, with Julian David Arredondo Moreno of Colombia third, both of them in a group which crossed a second behind Ulissi in the first uphill finish of this year’s Giro.
Photo: AFP
The weather again played a part, with wet and windy conditions, although there was sunshine on the 5km climb to the finish.
Matthews fought hard to stay near the front in the final kilometer and finished sixth. He is to wear the maglia rosa for a fourth day, a record for an Australian cyclist.
The Orica-GreenEdge rider extended his lead to 14 seconds, with Dutchman Pieter Weening moving into second spot. Evans was third.
There was an early break of 11 riders and, although their lead rose and fell at several points, the Orica-GreenEdge-led peloton was happy to control the gap to an average of four minutes.
There were several attempted breaks up front with 30km to go, but none stuck and the peloton was back together on the penultimate climb — the first ascent up to Viggiano — just before the slippery roads caused the first big crash of the day.
There were several more crashes as the rain made the tight and technical descent even trickier.
Gianluca Brambilla attacked bravely on the descent, opening up a 30 second advantage, but Joaquin Rodriguez’s Katusha team chased him down and he was caught on the final climb, setting up the scintillating finish.
TOUR OF CALIFORNIA
AFP, LOS ANGELES
Will Routley claimed the fourth stage of the Tour of California on Wednesday, but the Canadian rider could not catch former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, who comfortably held onto the yellow jersey.
Optum Pro Cycling’s Routley outsprinted five breakaway challengers to complete the 116km stage in 3 hours, 48 minutes, 37 seconds. Gregory Daniel was second and Kevin de Mesmaeker finished third.
With four days of racing remaining, British Sky Pro Cycling rider Wiggins maintained his overall lead over Australia’s Rohan Dennis, who was 28 seconds back. Portugal’s Tiago Machado was third in the overall, 69 seconds behind Wiggins.
Lawson Craddock was in fourth, while British rider Adam Yates rounded out the top five.
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