giro d'italia stage five

Watch: Luka Pibernik celebrates at the Giro d’Italia… one lap too early

Bahrain-Merida rider forgets how to count as he celebrates the stage win a lap early
Craig Cunningham

Slovenian rider, Luka Pibernik, may want to forget stage five of the Giro d’Italia after celebrating a stage victory that never was.

The 23-year-old riding for Vincenzo Nibali‘s team sat up with over six kilometres to go thinking he had taken the Giro d’Italia stage victory in Messina. Unfortunately he didn’t hear the bell ringing to indicate that there was one more lap to go.

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According to Nibali, the young rider’s radio didn’t work and the team’s efforts to bring him back into the peloton were in vain as he sat up to celebrate.

Poor Pibernik will probably want to forget about today’s howler but his actions will see him join the ranks of these seven riders who also celebrated too early.

The day was actually taken by Fernando Gaviria in a bunch sprint, making it two victories for the young Colombian. With the win in the bag, the 23-year-old also secures the points classification jersey for the next stage, relieving André Greipel of that title.