One of the most extraordinary Giro d’Italia stages in recent memory saw Spanish rider Igor Arrieta claim victory for UAE Team Emirates-XRG on stage five, despite crashing and taking a wrong turn inside the closing kilometres.
Fellow breakaway companion Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) claimed the overall leaders pink jersey, despite also crashing on wet roads in the technical finale.
The 24-year-old Portuguese rider must have thought he’d claim the stage victory too after Arrieta’s astonishing mistake inside the final 2km.
However, the gruelling nature of a stage that covered 203km from Praia a Mare to Potenza with 4,100m of climbing took its toll on Eulálio, who faded catastrophically in the closing kilometres and was overhauled by a desperately emotional Arrieta.
“When it happened [the crash] to me today, I never thought it was all over,” Arrieta said.
“I wanted to keep trying until the end. I was completely empty in the final kilometres, but I knew Eulálio was in the same situation. We both deserved the win.”
Afonso Eulálio will console himself with the pink overall race leaders jersey. (Getty Images: Dario Belingheri)
The Giro has a penchant for the sublime as well as the ridiculous, and this wonderfully chaotic stage encompassed both, keeping fans on the edge of their seats throughout the thrilling conclusion.
Amidst teeming rain throughout the stage, both men were among a 12-man breakaway that got away early.
As expected, the key climb of the day, the 6.6km, 9.2 per cent Montagna Grande di Viggiano, smashed that group to pieces, leaving us with the final, Iberian pairing.
The pair were always going to contest the stage win, but not even the most ambitious of scriptwriters would have dared consider how it would conclude.
First, Arrieta crashed with 14km to go, sliding out on a wet right-hand bend on a descent to put him seemingly out of contention.
Igor Arrieta crashed just outside the final 10km. (Supplied: SBS)
Eulálio must have thought he was home and hosed at that stage, but incredibly, the Portuguese rider also hit the ground 6km from the finish during the tricky, technical closing stages in Potenza, reuniting the pair.
Afonso Eulálio slid on treacherous, wet roads. (Supplied: SBS)
The penultimate act in this quasi-comedic tragedy appeared to be the most cruel, as Arrieta took a wrong turn after a corner with just 2km remaining.
Igor Arrieta (left) took what appeared to be a decision terminal to his chances. (Supplied: SBS)
Yet there was another twist Eulálio cracking as he raced towards the line, Arrieta measuring his comeback superbly to sweep past in the final 50 metres to end one of the most absurdly astonishing Giro d’Italia stage finishes in the 109-edition history of the race.
Eulálio has a 2-minute 51-second advantage over Arrieta on general classification, the maglia rosa relatively secure on the shoulders of the Portuguese rider until the race hits the high mountains later in the week.
Australian hopes Jai Hindley, Ben O’Connor and Michael Storer all sit 6 minutes and 22 seconds behind alongside the rest of the key favourites for overall victory.
Thursday’s sixth stage is unlikely to be quite so dramatic, with another opportunity for the fast men expected.
The peloton will negotiate a flat, 142km ride from Paestum in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius and into Napoli.
That being said, a short, 4 per cent gradient climb on cobbles in the finale could add a distinct layer of chaos, particularly if the weather is rainy, as expected.
Kaden Groves, who abandoned this year’s race on stage four, won in Napoli last year.
However, Hindley abandoned on that same stage after yet another enormous crash in wet and slippery conditions.
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