Milan, 14 May (LaPresse) – Mads Pedersen scores a hat trick. The Danish rider from Lidl-Trek won the fifth stage of the 108th edition of the Giro d'Italia, from Ceglie Messapica to Matera, covering 151 km, where the Corsa Rosa returns after five years. This is Pedersen's third victory in this edition of the Giro, his first in the pink jersey. The Dane beat an excellent Edoardo Zambanini of Bahrain-Victorious in a very close sprint to the finish line in Matera, with Britain's Thomas Pidcock of Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team coming in third. The stage finish was made difficult by a series of ups and downs that almost split the group and caused problems for the pure sprinters and even some big names such as Belgian Wout Van Aert, who dropped out 4 km from the finish line. The pink jersey Pedersen also gained 10‘ and extended his lead in the general classification over Slovenian Primoz Roglic of Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe, now +0.17’ behind. Tomorrow is the sixth stage, the 227.0 km Potenza-Napoli.
© Copyright LaPresse
