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Ganna claims second Giro stage, Almeida remains in pink jersey

Filippo Ganna celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the fifth stage of the 2020 Giro d'Italia
Filippo Ganna celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the fifth stage of the 2020 Giro d'Italia

Italian Filippo Ganna gave his Ineos-Grenadiers team something to cheer about on the Giro d'Italia when he claimed the fifth stage, a 225-km trek from Mileto.

The time-trial world champion rode away from a group of three breakaway riders in the category-one ascent to Montescuro to win his second stage of this year's edition after taking the opening time trial. 

The 24-year-old, whose previous six wins all came in time-trials, crossed the line 34 seconds ahead of a group of overall contenders, according to provisional timings. 

His team mate and pre-race favourite Geraint Thomas, who was forced to abandon after a crash early on the third stage, came to congratulate him afterwards. 

"Last night I messaged with Geraint and he said I should try to go in the breakaway and win the stage, so I did it a little bit for him," said Ganna. 

"It was not easy in the climb but when I attacked I just did my own time trial." 

Austrian Patrick Konrad came second, and Portugal's Joao Almeida took third place to retain the overall leader's Maglia Rosa. 

Thursday's sixth stage is a 188-km stretch from Castrovillari to Matera, in the Basilicata region.

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