Russian Pavel Brutt, riding for the Tinkoff team, won the fifth stage of the Giro d'Italia on Wednesday, with Liquigas' Italian rider Franco Pellizotti retaining the leader's pink jersey.
Brutt managed to get away from his four breakaway companions on an incline in the final kilometre following an escape right from the start of the stage.
Germany's Johannes Frohlinger finished second a few seconds behind, ahead of Colombia's Luis Laverde and Francisco Perez of Spain after the 203km section from Belvedere Marittimo to Contursi Termo held under cloudy and rainy skies.
Scotland's David Millar, who was the other breakaway rider, had a mechanical breakdown in the final kilometre to mess up his chances and he threw his bike over some barriers into a ditch in frustration.
The peloton, which was led by world champion Paolo Bettini of Italy, finished about 30 seconds behind.
This was 26-year-old Brutt's best performance. Brutt, who is known for his long breakaways, became the first Russian to win a stage on the tour since Pavel Tonkov in 2004.
Thursday's stage has been shortened by 33.4km, Tour director Angelo Zomegnan said, so the sixth stage from Potenza to Peschici is now 231.6km instead of the original 265km, which he told AFP was to help the riders' fatigue and stress after difficult conditions since the start of the race.
Irish rider Philip Deignan crossed the line 31 seconds behind Brut and lies in 61st place overall.
