Cycling:Pieter Weening produced an outstanding solo performance to claim victory on stage five of the Giro d'Italia and move to the top of the general classification. The Rabobank rider perfectly timed his push for the line with little under 10 kilometres to go and managed to hold off the chasing pack.
The Dutchman takes over the maglia rosa from David Millar after the 191- kilometre run from Piombino to Orvieto.
Millar endured a tough day after he fell while competing for one of the intermediary sprints. The Garmin-Cervelo man did well to get back up to the peloton, but was left behind on one of the gravel sections of the stage late in the day and lost three minutes.
BMC’s Martin Kohler had led for most of the day as the field returned to racing following yesterday’s ceremonial procession in the wake of the death of Wouter Weylandt on Monday. Kohler forged a solo breakaway after just 12km, but Weening and John Gadret managed to haul the Swiss in as he tired with the stage entering its final 10km.
Weening wasted little time in launching his push for the win and, despite struggling during the steep final climb, he was able to beat off Fabio Duarte and Jose Serpa to cross the line eight seconds clear. He now leads Marco Pinotti and Kanstantsin Sivtsov by two seconds in the overall standings.
With the peloton still recovering from the shock of Weylandt’s death there were worrying moments when Rabobank’s Tom-Jelte Slagter suffered a heavy fall during the closing stages, but the Dutchman appeared to be conscious as medics treated him although he did suffer lacerations to his face.