Riders had to endure constant rain on stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
For the second time in this year's Giro d'Italia, Germany's Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) showed his sprint rivals a clean pair of heels with the sprinter winning stage 5. Ackermann held his nerve in atrocious rain, edging out Fernando Gaviria at the line. Meanwhile, Elia Viviani struggled and finished outside the top ten.
Earlier in the day, Tom Dumoulin abandoned the race. The 2017 Giro d'Italia winner fell heavily on stage 4 and lost over four minutes to his main rivals but he started Wednesday's stage. However, Dumoulin failed to make it through the neutralized zone and will now build up towards the Tour de France in July.
"It was a crazy finale, it was really difficult in the rain,” Ackermann said.
“In the sprint I trusted my teammate Rüdi Selig and I was happy he found a gap and that Gaviria did a good lead out for me too. I’m strong but I was lucky too. I did two sprints: I had to brake with 250 metres and then go again. I’m really happy with today."
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
