Igor Arrieta wins a completely crazy stage 4 of the Giro, and Afonso Eulálio takes the Pink Jersey

The 2026 Giro d'Italia experienced one of those stages impossible to summarize in a simple result. Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) ended up taking the victory after a chaotic day marked by rain, attacks from the start, crashes, route errors, and an absolute collapse of the peloton, while Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) became the new leader of the race.

Igor Arrieta wins after crashing, returning, and overtaking Eulálio at the finish

The fifth stage, with 203 kilometers between Praia a Mare and Potenza and the grueling climb of Montagna Grande di Viggiano, had been marked for days as a perfect opportunity for a breakaway. And that is exactly what happened.

Wild start in the rain

The race practically exploded from the initial flag. The rain appeared very early, turning the stage into a nervous and dangerous day from the first kilometers.

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Victor Campenaerts, Einer Rubio, Guillermo Thomas Silva, Igor Arrieta, Christian Scaroni, Jhonatan Narváez, Ben Turner, and Afonso Eulálio were some of the important names that managed to enter the huge front group while Lidl-Trek struggled immensely to control the situation around Giulio Ciccone.

The situation was especially delicate for the Italian because several dangerous riders in the general classification had filtered ahead. Einer Rubio started the day just ten seconds from the lead, and Eulálio was at 1:11.

The race ended up completely breaking apart even before reaching the big climb of the day.

Arrieta blows up the race before Viggiano

At 62 kilometers to go, Igor Arrieta decided to anticipate the other favorites in the breakaway and launched off solo even before the official start of the Montagna Grande di Viggiano, a 6.6-kilometer climb averaging 9.2% with ramps close to 12%.

Only Afonso Eulálio managed to really react. The Portuguese rider dropped all his chasing companions one by one until he caught up with the Spaniard during the ascent.

Behind, the peloton practically gave up on the stage. Ciccone was left isolated with very few teammates and ended up even pulling the group himself while Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe controlled the pace without excessive urgency.

The gap shot up to over seven minutes, and the Giro completely changed hands.

Crashes, route errors, and a surreal finish

The stage still held an absolutely surreal ending. About ten kilometers from the finish, Arrieta crashed while descending in the rain and lost some very valuable seconds after even having to change bikes. Everything seemed decided for Eulálio, who rode off solo towards a victory that seemed certain along with the Maglia Rosa. But the Portuguese also ended up crashing shortly after.

The art of timing.

Igor Arrieta crashed in the downhill, and Afonso Eulalio is flying towards his first ever win!

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Arrieta managed to return to his wheel, and both faced the last kilometers together until another completely incredible moment arrived: the Spaniard took a wrong turn within Potenza and lost contact just when it seemed he had saved the situation.

DOWN GOES EULALIO!!

The Portuguese rider is back on the bike, and Igor Arrieta is now back on his wheel!

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Even so, Eulálio ended up paying for the brutal effort accumulated throughout the day. The Portuguese was completely empty on the final false flat, and Arrieta caught up with him about 150 meters from the finish before finally overtaking him in the sprint.

The Spanish rider thus completed one of the strangest and most chaotic victories of this Giro, after a day in which practically everything happened to him.

Top 10 Stage 5 Giro d'Italia 2026

1. Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – 5:07:51
2. Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) – +2 s
3. Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) – +51 s
4. Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar Team) – +1:29
5. Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) – +1:30
6. Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal-Quick Step) – +1:30
7. Koen Bouwman (Jayco-AlUla) – +3:11
8. Johannes Kulset (Uno-X Mobility) – +3:13
9. Andrea Raccagni (Soudal-Quick Step) – +3:29
10. Ludovico Crescioli (Polti-VisitMalta) – +4:42

Eulálio dons the pink jersey and Arrieta is second in the general classification

Although he lost the stage, Afonso Eulálio ended up finding a huge reward. The Portuguese became the new leader of the Giro d'Italia 2026 after gaining several minutes on the group of favorites.

The general classification is now completely shaken up before the sixth stage towards Naples, while the Giro continues to make it clear that this edition can change completely every day.

Top 10 of the GENERAL after stage 5 Giro d'Italia 2026

1. Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) – 21:27:43
2. Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – +2:51
3. Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) – +3:34
4. Andrea Raccagni (Soudal-Quick Step) – +3:39
5. Johannes Kulset (Uno-X Mobility) – +5:17
6. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) – +6:12
7. Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – +6:16
8. Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling) – +6:16
9. Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos) – +6:16
10. Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos) – +6:18