Bardiani rider Pirazzi was part of a five-man breakaway toward the end of the 208-kilometre route from Sarnonico to Vittorio Veneto, but made his move with just over a kilometre left to go to claim his first Giro leg win of his career ahead of Belgian Tim Wellens and Jay McCarthy of Australia in second and third place respectively.

Pirazzi broke down in tears after winning and made an obscene arm gesture, which he later apologised for.

"It wasn't a nice gesture, I'm sorry, forgive me," said the 27-year-old.

"But it's been five years of anger, five years of criticism.

"As the days went by, my moral was going down.

"I was here to get this victory finally, that was the target.

"I was unleashing all that.

"Five years of criticism is a lot for a young guy.

"I really had to deal with a lot.

"Today I reached a goal that I wanted since I was a young boy watching the Giro.

"I'm very happy.

"I'll enjoy it and never forget this moment."

Nairo Quintana kept the pink jersey for another day ©AFP/Getty Images


As the overall leader, Quintana remained 1min 41secs ahead of fellow Colombian Rigoberto Urán and 3:21 ahead of Australia's Cadel Evans.

But, following the circumstances in which Quintana secured his lead - he broke clear in a descent that some teams thought had been neutralised by organisers because of bad weather conditions - the International Cycling Union (UCI) released a statement saying it had been in contact with the Giro race organisers.

"Clearly Giro organisers were concerned about race safety and took the decision to place motorbikes in front of each group on [the] Stelvio descent," the sport's world governing body added.

"Security is, of course, a primary concern for all race organisers and for the UCI.

"It is important to stress, however, that yesterday's decision by Giro organisers should have been approved by UCI commissaries, as stated in the UCI rulebook, and coordinated and communicated to the teams more effectively."

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