The stage ending in Potenza - nomen omen - did not fail to deliver in all its explosive force one of cycling's classics in heroic fashion: a race full of plot twists, while the weather's fury unleashed itself against the riders, overturning the standings. And the faces of the cyclists at the finish, drawn, livid like the lips of Giulio Ciccone, as noted in his opening by Ciro Scognamiglio on Gazzetta dello Sport. The fragility of the pink jersey, dethroned after just one day: the Corriere della Sera focuses on that aspect, headlining "Abandoned by his teammates, Ciccone's pink dream ends after one day". On Il Giornale, Giulio's bitterness after losing the symbol of leadership permeates an article that certainly doesn't overlook the great merits of the leading duo. After reading Repubblica, meanwhile, we learn that the day's winner, Arrieta, was protected by the Black Madonna of Viggiano, putting falls and route errors behind him. Don't dare call him lucky, though... Defining the final stretch into Potenza as "epic and surreal," the Spanish journalists at Marca earn the award for successful adjectives. As they say: it sounds good.

GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT
DOWNPOUR ON THE GIRO, PINK JERSEY UPSET
 Giulio Ciccone's lips only stop turning blue after a hot shower never so desperately desired, at the end of a day that went contrary to his hopes: from Praia a Mare to Potenza, along these 203 grueling kilometers of the fifth stage of the Giro d'Italia, he would have liked to show off his splendid pink jersey. And defend it with passion. Instead, hell broke loose in the form of rain and falls, cold and hail, and the final tally reads: stage victory to Spaniard Igor Arrieta, overall lead to Portuguese Afonso Eulalio, with the Abruzzese 28th at the finish at 7'13", and now sixth overall at 6'12" from that jersey pursued throughout an entire career and already shed too quickly. A misfortune. (Ciro Scognamiglio)

CORRIERE DELLA SERA
ABANDONED BY HIS TEAMMATES, CICCONE'S PINK DREAM ENDS AFTER ONE DAY
After equally sharing five hours of rain and hail, two disastrous skids on the asphalt, a route error, after repeatedly trying to drop each other, Igor Arrieta, Spanish, and Afonso (without the "L") Eulalio, Portuguese, can be fully satisfied with yesterday's grueling effort. Igor won his first race (and what a race), Afonso (unknown even to insiders) donned the pink jersey. In cycling, certain strategies are understandable even to children (an attack on the climb, a sprint), others prove difficult to decipher by insiders. Yesterday's, for example. At the start from Praia a Mare, Giulio Ciccone was radiant in a pink jersey pursued for ten years. Aware of its precariousness, the Abruzzese nonetheless thought he could only lose it in a battle among the great favorites Vingegaard and Pellizzari. Instead, he saw it slip away halfway through the race, when a small group of courageous domestiques that included Eulalio broke away, gaining a minute, two, four. (Marco Bonarrigo)

REPUBBLICA
CRASHES; GETS LOST, WINS
ARRIETA'S CRAZY RACE
Everything happened to him. Two crashes with a nasty blow to the right side of his body and a head hit against the guardrail, a route error. In the end, Igor Arrieta won a stage that was a long and desperate novel among the mountains that guard the image of the Black Madonna of Viggiano. Spared from everything that happened to him in 5 very long hours, of which 4 and a half spent in breakaway, Arrieta won the stage, while his breakaway companion, Afonso Eulalio, snatched the pink jersey from Ciccone. Big favorites yielding and frightened by the fury of the elements. (Cosimo Cito)

IL GIORNALE
CICCONE TAKES OFF A PINK JERSEY FULL OF BITTERNESS
The time of a dream, sweet and deep, then the harsh awakening, which tastes like a slap in the face. Giulio Ciccone had no illusions, but he did allow himself one small hope. He had told himself quietly, even whispering it to Annabruna, his wife: "Maybe I'll keep it until the Blockhaus," tomorrow, on the roads of home. The conditional was necessary, like the weather conditions, which yesterday were at the limit of tolerance with rain, frost and hail that contributed to making the stage an odyssey. No luck: the team (Lidl-Trek, ed.) is here at the Giro for Derek Gee and Jonny Milan, and for Derek and Jonny it will be. Giulio had to accept it, on a day that could have been a showcase but instead turned into a real calvary. (Pier Augusto Stagi)

L'ÉQUIPE
A HELLISH DAY
Trembling from the cold, with a stream of mucus dripping like a stalactite above his lip, Guillermo Thomas Silva bore the bitter signs of suffering in the Potenza valley, at the end of a hellish day for the riders of the 109th Giro d'Italia. The former pink jersey holder, third in this fifth stage, had no choice but to rely on his assistant to put on the black raincoat, like a doctor providing first aid on the battlefield after the clash ends. (Julien Chesnais)

TUTTOSPORT
THE "DINNER OF TRICKS" SMILES ON ARRIETA
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Indeed, two gladiators contested the victory in the very wet and treacherous Praia a Mare-Potenza: first Igor Arrieta, 23 years old, Spanish from Uae Emirates, and second Afonso Eulalio, 24, Portuguese from Bahrain-Victorious, new pink jersey. Yes, it's a Giro d'Italia with humidity, low temperatures, falling TV motorcycles and plot twists. Uae Emirates, in Bulgaria, lost the pillars Adam Yates, Jay Vine and Marc Soler, yet managed to win the first two stages in Italy. Even Santiago Buitrago, Bahrain's captain for the general classification, withdrew during the Grand Départ due to a crash. Yet now Bahrain celebrates Eulalio as leader. (Alessandro Brambilla)

CORRIERE DELLO SPORT
ARRIETA SURPRISE
Rain, hail, cold and fog for a crazy day of heroic cycling between Calabria and Basilicata. The tears of the fifth stage winner Igor Arrieta and the almost incredulous smile of the new pink jersey Afonso Eulalio amid the contorted faces of the rest of the group: this is the postcard from the Potenza finish at the end of a stage that scrambled the Giro d'Italia's general classification. On the heels of Narvaez's success in Cosenza, the Spaniard delivered the second consecutive stage to Uae Team Emirates-XRG, reborn like a phoenix after losing three of its men due to the massive crash in Bulgaria. (Alberto Dolfin)