(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 8 - Frenchman Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) won the fifth stage of the 178km Giro d'Italia cycling race from Genoa to Lucca at the end of a 75km four-man breakaway.
Danish rider Michael Valgren (EF Education - EasyPost) came second, ahead of Andrea Pietrobon (Team Polti Kometa) and the other Frenchman Enzo Paleni (Groupama - FDJ).
Slovenia's two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE) remained firmly in command of the general classification, retaining the leader's pink jersey.
The Slovenian ace, who won the Tour in 2020 and 2021 and came second to Danish phenom Jonas Vingegaard the next two years, has a 46 second lead over 2018 Tour winner Geraint Thomas of Wales, and 47 seconds over Colombia's Daniel Felipe Martinez.
(ANSA).