'I thought it was impossible but I kept pushing' – Igor Arrieta defies all the odds to squeeze out a victory on Giro d'Italia stage 5
His breakaway partner Alfonso Eulálio now wears pink
The prize for the most hard-fought and perhaps least likely victory of the Giro d'Italia this year will surely go to the winner of stage five, Igor Arrieta.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider romped to the team's second win in two days after a two-up breakaway that had been in turns celebratory, heart-breaking, and physically painful.
His partner, Portugal's Alfonso Eulálio of Bahrain Victorious, who more than once could have been almost sure of victory, ultimately had to make do with second place – though the maglia rosa must surely rank among the best consolation prizes available in bike racing.
After rain all day and on supremely slippy roads as they descended towards the finish, first Arrieta crashed, watching his partner disappear up the road with 13km to go. But then Eulálio came down and the race was back on – but far from over. Arrieta overcooked a wet bend with two kilometres left, which looked certain to have ended his day. But he managed to claw back his disadvantage to catch a hapless and exhausted Eulálio in slight of the line and then outsprint him.
"I didn't think it was lost. I needed to try to the end. I was completely empty in the last kilometres and I know Eulálio is the same. We both deserved the victory but in the end I got it.
