Dane Mads Pedersen continued to dominate the Giro d'Italia, as he celebrated his third victory in the fifth stage.
It was a tight race, but the Dane from the Lidl-Trek team won the 151 kilometers from CeljeMesapika to Matera with a great sprint finish.
Italian Edoardo Zambjanini (Bahrain Viktorious) finished in the same time as the winner, and almost missed out on victory, while Briton Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) was third.
"I wasn't even sure if I had won," Pedersen said honestly, adding:
"Three wins in five stages and winning with the pink jersey is crazy for me. It was an incredibly difficult stage, especially in the last 20 kilometers. I suffered a lot. This was really hard," said Pedersen.
Race favorite, Slovenian Primož Roglić (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) broke into the lead with just over two kilometers to go, but while Pedersen struggled at first, the Slovenian was unable to break free from the chasing group.
He crossed the finish line in the group of winners, but the Dane increased his lead due to the bonus.
Pedersen's teammate, Czech Matijas Vacek, once again did a perfect job for Pedersen, pushing him and then slowing down and giving way to the Dane, who promptly moved alongside his colleague's wheel and the risk paid off, although the Zambjanini caught up with him.
"I spent a lot of energy trying to keep up with Vacek's pace. Luckily, I had enough strength for the last sprint," concluded the 29-year-old Dane, who signed a contract with Lidl-Trek until the end of his career today.
A 10-second bonus for the win increased Pedersen's lead to 17 seconds over Roglić, with Vacek a further seven seconds behind in third place ahead of Thursday's (tomorrow's) sixth stage, 227km from Potenza to Naples.
Bonus video:
