Stage 5

The road

How it was won

1. 194 km to go

   Five up the road, and nobody minds

   Domont, Tvetcov, Dillier, Chavanel and Polanc have four minutes over a lethargic peloton. Polanc is the best placed of them, ten minutes down overall — no threat at all, and everyone is saving their legs for Abetone.

2. 213 km to go

   Chavanel lights it up

   The ever-aggressive Frenchman attacks his own breakaway with thirteen kilometres to go. Domont, Dillier and Polanc go with him; only Tvetcov is cast aside — and then Jan Polanc slips away alone.

3. 38 km to go

   The two super teams square up

   Rosa goes first for Astana and Basso chases him down for Tinkoff. Then Landa jumps across to Pirazzi, and the pink jersey group is reeled back by three Tinkoff riders working for one man.

4. 44 km to go

   Contador dances into pink

   On the steepest ramp of the first mountain finish of the race, the Spaniard gets out of the saddle and pushes an enormous gear, half dancing and half brutalising it. Of everyone in the Giro d'Italia, only Aru and Porte can even react — and only slowly. Four kilometres later the maglia rosa is decided.

5. 5At the line

   Polanc's day, Contador's race

   Jan Polanc holds on for the stage from the morning break while behind him Contador, Aru and Porte watch one another all the way to the line. Contador takes the pink jersey.

The result