Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia from the breakaway, besting Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) in a zany finale. Both riders crashed separately on rain-slicked roads inside the last 15 km and then Arrieta missed a corner and briefly went down the wrong road with under 3 km to go.
Nevertheless, he caught and passed Eulálio on the finishing straight in Potenza to nab the win. Eulálio was left with the consolation prize of taking the pink jersey.
Stage 2 winner Thomas Silva (XDS-Astana) finished third on day, 51 seconds back, with GC riders like Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) arriving together a little over seven minutes back.
[race_result id=13 stage_id=89968 count=5 gc=0 year=2026]
[race_result id=13 stage_id=89968 count=5 gc=5 year=2026]
How it happened
- The Giro's fifth stage rolled out from Praia a Mare in wet conditions that only worsened in due course, with heavy rain falling on the race as riders fought to establish the breakaway. On a hilly day that seemed likely to favor the escapees, it was a fierce fight.
- Eulálio was part of a small group that managed to get clear after about an hour of attacks and counterattacks, and his group was then joined by others who bridged – Arrieta included – to form what would ultimately stabilize as the main break of the day.
- With 100 km to go, the break was composed of 13 riders, and the rain slackened, with the sun even coming out for a time before the precipitation picked back up again. The gap went out to around three minutes before Red Bull hit the front and closed it down to two minutes on the run-in to the key climb of the day, the Cat. 2 Montagna Grande di Viggiano with around 55 km to go.
- It was there that Arrieta struck out on in advance of the climb, getting a small gap that he took onto the early slopes of the ascent.
- Eulálio set off in pursuit and linked up with Arrieta in a particularly steep section of the climb.
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