Giro leader Pedersen sprints to another stage victory

Mads Pedersen continued his domination of sprint finishes at the Giro d'Italia by winning stage five on Wednesday, his third stage victory of this year's race which extended the Danish rider's overall lead.

At the end of the 151km ride from Celglie Messapica to Matera, Pedersen appeared to struggle with the pace on the climb to the finish, but recovered before starting his dash to the line early, just managing to hold off the challengers.

Italian Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) almost caught the Lidl-Trek man on the line but had to settle for second place, ahead of Britain's Tom Pidcock (Q36.5).

Pedersen's 10-second bonus for the win stretched his lead to 17 seconds over Slovenia's Primoz Roglic (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe).