Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) landed a shock win from the breakaway as the sprinters were left cursing a limp chase on Stage 5 at the Giro d’Italia.
Few would have predicted that the quartet of Thomas, Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) and Andrea Pietrobon (Polti Kometa) would have battled it out for the win when they broke clear with 77km to go after the intermediate sprint.
But indecision in the group behind – most teams reluctant to pull on the front until it was far too late – meant that come the flamme rouge, victory was theirs alone to contest.
Pietrobon stuck out first, tearing away as his three rivals gawped behind, but Thomas timed his move to perfection, swooping past the flagging Italian, and out of the wheel of Valgren, in the final metres to claim Cofidis’ first win of 2024.