Stage 5

The road

At the start

The first uphill finish

Michael Matthews still leads by eight seconds from Alessandro Petacchi, and after the go-slow in Bari the general classification has barely been touched in four days. That changes on the road to Viggiano, where the finish tilts up through the town and the same climb is crossed twelve kilometres earlier, on a circuit with a steep, hairpinned descent. Rain is forecast again, and not every sprinter will survive it.

How it was won

1. 164 km to go

   The break splits on the Serra

   Eight kilometres of climbing to the Valico della Serra di San Chirico tear the eleven-man move apart, Rubiano first over the top, and the descent sparks attack after attack that the peloton patiently hunts down.

2. 212 km to go

   Rain on the Viggiano loop

   The bunch crests Viggiano together, then the rain arrives and the descent turns treacherous. Mikel Landa and Fabio Felline are among the riders who hit the wet tarmac.

3. 38 km to go

   Brambilla dives off the descent

   Gianluca Brambilla decides the wet corners are an opportunity rather than a danger, throwing himself down the descent to open thirty seconds before Katusha claw him back on the drag to the line.

4. 4At the line

   Ulissi times it to perfection

   On the final ramp into Viggiano the GC men and the stage hunters collide, and out of the middle of it comes Diego Ulissi, launching late and holding off Cadel Evans by a second for the first summit finish of the Giro.

The result