1. Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Mapei 6.14.58 2. Luc Leblanc (Fra) Polti 3. Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone 4. Ivan Gotti (Ita) Saeco all s.t 5. Michele Coppolillo (Ita) MG 0.02 7. Andrea Noe (Ita) Asics 0.18 6. Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Refin s.t. 8. Alexander Shefer (Kaz) Asics 0.29 9. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) MG 0.47 10. Roberto Petito (Ita) Saeco 0.49 11. Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Roslotto 0.53 12. Giuseppe Di Grande (Ita) Mapei 1.50 13. Nicola Miceli (Ita) Aki 2.14 14. Daro Frigo (Ita) Saeco 15. Filix Garcia Casas (Spa) Festina 16. Vladimir Pulnikov (Ukr) Kross 17. Massimo Donati (Ita) Saeco 18. Marcos Serrano (Spa) Kelme all s.t. 19. Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Mercatone 2.19 20. Hernan Buenahora (Col) Kelme 2.25 21. Guerini 2.30 22. Simeoni 2.33 23. Merckx 24. Zaina 25. Conti 26. Belli 2.46 27. Ugrumov 2.54 28. Rubiera 3.01 29. Velo 30. Faresin 3.43 31. Sgambelluri 32. Barbero 33. Gentili 3.50 34. Poser 4.13 35. Gontchar 36. Forconi 4.33 37. Dominguez 4.34 38. Secchiari 39. Pistore 40. Moretti 4.43 41. Faustini 42. Jeker 43. Podenzana 5.09 44. Di Silvestro 45. Volpi 5.23 46. Frattini F. 47. Berzin 48. Steinhauser 49. Pellicioli 50. Bettini 5.28 51. Lozano 5.35 52. Gomez 6.01 53. Padrnos 6.58 54. Bobrik 7.11 55. Puttini 56. Pierdomenico 7.22 57. Sivakov 8.01 58. Gonzalez P. 59. Halgand 8.17 60. Lebreton 61. Siboni 62. Mazzanti 63. Cenghialta 64. Spezialetti 65. Gasperoni 66. Vergnani 8.24 67. Meier 68. Konyshev 9.12 69. Roncancio 9.17 70. Gonzalez G. 9.27 71. Casagrande Fil. 11.24 72. Paluan 73. Bortolami 11.31 74. Loda 14.06 75. Hvastija 76. Frattini C. 77. Laddomada 78. Laurent 79. Lecchi 80. Brignoli 81. Colombo 82. Scopsi 83. Pumar 84. Della Vedova 85. Davidenko 86. Gili 87. Larsen 88. Pozzi O. 89. Ouslamine 90. Hernandez 14.22 91. Lietti 15.56 92. Tani 93. Cipollini 94. De Paoli 95. Fincato 96. Finesso 97. Lanfranchi 98. Roscioli 99. Molinari 100. Murtas 101. Sacchi 102. Bugno 103. Galletti 104. Vidal 105. Manzoni 106. Crepaldi 107. Bettin 108. Gualdi 109. Baronti 110. lberati 111. Ouchakov 112. Cabello 113. Vatteroni 114. Scirea 115. Brasi 116. Baldato 117. Citracca 118. Chiesa 119. Fontanelli 120. Celestino 16.32 121. Calzavara 122. Traversoni 17.12 123. Missaglia 124. Tebaldi 19.02 125. Valoti 19.23 126. Moos 19.27 127. Wust 20.25 128. Pianegonda 129. Edo 130. Spruch 131. Boscardin 132. Casagrande S. 133. ndriotto 134. Pozzi . 135. Casagranda 136. Dotti 137. Barbagli 138. Ferrigato 139. Radaelli 140. Magnusson 141. Leoni 142. Brognara 143. Werner 144. Cauz 145. DallCosta 146. Schmidt 147. Apollonio 148. Caruso 149. Giraldi 150. Bonetti 151. Gallorini 152. Bramati 153. Bottaro 154. Mondini 155. Patuelli 156. Djavanian 157. Cassani 158. Peschel 159. Dolci 160. Svorada 161. Santaromita 162. Zanette 20.58 163. Bontempi 21.10 164. Piccoli 165. Contrini 166. Balducci 21.58 167. Aggiano 22.02 168. Di Renzo 22.05 169. Calzolari 25.18 170. Fornaciari 171. Rossato 172. Biasci 173. Giacomelli 174. Calcaterra 175. Milesi 28.45 176. Meloni 36.35 Started: Partiti: 176 Finished: 176 (out of time limit: Meloni)
1. Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Mapei 2. Luc Leblanc (Fra) Polti 0.41 3. Ivan Gotti (Ita) Saeco 1.07 4. Roberto Petito (Ita) Saeco 5. Pantani 1.31 6. Noe 1.43 7. Coppolillo 2.09 8. Savoldelli 2.40 9. Piepoli 2.49 10. Shefer 3.05 11. Simoni 3.14 12. Miceli 3.50 13. Guerini 3.58 14. Ugrumov 3.59 15. Zaina 4.01 16. Di Grande 4.02 17. Belli 4.41 18. Simeoni 5.01 19. Donati 5.08 20. Merckx 5.09 21. Velo 5.14 22. Pulnikov 5.22 23. Conti 5.30 24. Garcia 5.32 25. Berzin 5.36 26. Serrano 5.40 27. Faresin 5.42 28. Garzelli 5.45 29. Buenahora 5.52 30. Frigo 6.04 31. Gontchar 6.07 32. Dominguez 6.08 33. Rubiera 6.14 34. Gentili 6.19 35. Sgambelluri 6.20 36. Barbero 6.58 37. Poser 6.58 38. Faustini 7.01 39. Pistore 7.18 40. Forconi 7.45 41. Podenzana 8.26 42. Volpi 8.38 43. Frattini F. 8.41 44. Di Silvestro 9.06 45. Secchiari 9.10 46. Steinhauser 47. Bobrik 9.24 48. Jeker 9.37 49. Puttini 9.38 50. Pellicioli 9.44 51. Moretti 9.50 52. Bettini 9.51 53. Lozano 10.29 54. Gomez 10.30 55. Cenghialta 10.42 56. Padrnos 10.54 57. Sivakov 11.34 58. Meier 11.47 59. Spezialetti 11.50 60. Siboni 11.53 61. Mazzanti 11.59 62. Gonzalez P. 12.33 63. Gasperoni 12.34 64. Vergnani 12.44 65. Pierdomenico 12.45 66. Gonzalez G. 13.27 67. Konyshev 13.36 68. Casagrande Fil. 15.04 69. Paluan 15.05 70. Bortolami 15.55 71. Halgand 15.57 72. Colombo 16.06 73. Cipollini 17.53 74. Ouslamine 17.54 75. Davidenko 17.58 76. Laurent 18.01 77. Lecchi 18.07 78. Loda 18.26 79. Hernandez 18.29 80. Scopsi 18.50 81. Laddomada 18.52 82. Gili 18.56 83. Crepaldi 18.57 84. Pozzi O. 19.00 85. Lanfranchi 19.03 86. Brignoli 19.14 87. Missaglia 19.39 88. Della Vedova 19.43 89. Citracca 90. Frattini C. 19.50 91. Sacchi 19.57 92. Pumar 19.57 93. Larsen 19.58 94. Ouchakov 95. Hvastija 20.01 96. Brasi 20.16 97. Scirea 98. Molinari 20.19 99. Baldato 20.22 100. Celestino 20.26 101. Manzoni 20.29 102. Finesso 20.30 103. Bettin 20.33 104. Fincato 105. Vatteroni 20.34 106. Bugno 20.42 107. Tani 20.55 108. Cabello 20.57 109. De Paoli 20.58 110. lberati 21.02 111. Chiesa 21.06 112. Lietti 21.08 113. Galletti 21.14 114. Fontanelli 21.17 115. Gualdi 21.25 116. Baronti 21.44 117. Calzavara 21.58 118. Vidal 22.08 119. Edo 23.07 120. Roscioli 23.33 121. Traversoni 23.38 122. Andriotto 23.51 123. Murtas 24.01 124. Piccoli 24.06 125. Leoni 24.23 126. Dotti 24.25 127. Pozzi 24.34 128. pollonio 24.50 129. Svorada 25.14 130. Patuelli 25.15 131. Wust 25.22 132. Roncancio 25.33 133. Gallorini 25.34 134. Werner 25.35 135. Tebaldi 25.40 136. Cassani 25.43 137. Dalla Costa 25.44 138. Magnusson 25.52 139. Brognara 25.55 140. Mondini 141. Lebreton 26.05 142. Santaromita 26.25 143. Zanette 26.27 144. Giraldi 26.28 145. Bramati 26.31 146. Ferrigato 26.43 147. Caruso 26.58 148. Casagrande S. 27.03 149. Bontempi 27.07 150. Moos 27.26 151. Bonetti 27.36 152. Schmidt 27.37 153. Spruch 27.48 154. Bottaro 27.52 155. Boscardin 27.59 156. Casagranda 28.00 157. Aggiano 28.03 158. Balducci 28.10 159. Djavanian 28.25 160. Radaelli 28.29 161. Fornaciari 31.20 162. Contrini 31.29 163. Pianegonda 31.39 164. Calcaterra 31.40 165. Valoti 31.42 166. Cauz 32.03 167. Barbagli 33.36 168. Peschel 33.53 169. Biasci 36.31 170. Calzolari 36.34 171. Giacomelli 37.30 172. Dolci 38.50 173. Di Renzo 43.35 174. Rossato 47.23 175. Milesi 47.53
In the final thrust for the finish on the 1,675-metre Terminillo mountain, 1996 Giro victor Tonkov edged out Luc Leblanc of France to take the maximum time deduction of 12 seconds with several rivals strung out in his wake.
Leblanc's second placing ahead of Italy's Marco Pantani was worth eight seconds and the Frenchman is the new threat, 41 seconds behind Tonkov.
Leblanc takes over from Berzin who cracked in the final 11 kilometres to lose his overnight deficit of one second on Tonkov and trail in five minutes 23 seconds behind.
The Russian winner of the 1994 Giro blamed his flop on failing to eat sufficiently to cope with the demands of the 215-km fifth stage from Arezzo.
He was not the only contender to suffer as Tonkov ruled a leading group reduced by constant skirmishing to seven for the final four kms of the first major climb in this Giro.
``I just wanted to control the race,'' said Tonkov. ``If I had not had the leader's pink jersey I would have attacked more often on the Terminillo climb.
``Berzin's bad day means that I have fewer adversaries and I am more relaxed now because I was concerned he could have been dangerous in the time trial in the final week.
``My one fear is the Dolomite mountain climbs in the last few days of the race, especially as my team will have to work a lot.''
To the joy of the partisan crowd, Marco Pantani's third place at Terminillo signalled a promising challenge.
Pantani, out of action for 16 months after smashing his leg in a crash, is 1:31 away from the pink jersey and has many opportunities to show his old climbing power before the Milan finale on June 8.
As the field splintered, Italian Enrico Zaina, last year's runner-up, and Russian Piotr Ugromov, fourth and third in the last two Giros, lost more than two-and-a-half minutes on Tonkov.
Mario Cipollini's three victories in four days made him the first wearer of the leader's pink jersey and the top earner so far with nearly 30 million lire.
The fast-finishing Italian was almost 16 minutes in arrears at Terminillo as his team mate Ivan Gotti, a noted climber, moved into a challenging third overall, one minute seven seconds behind.
However, his team failed in their appeal against the elimination of Gian Matteo Fagnini from Tuesday's stage for ``dangerous riding.''
Russian Pavel Tonkov, from Italian Team Mapei, consolidated his leadership of the Giro'97 when he won the first high mountain stage, with a finish at Terminillo, where the first selection has been made in the overall, when Eugeni Berzin lost over five minutes. The stage started pretty quietly, so much so that the average speed for the first half of the stage was 32.8 km/hr. The most distinguished from the first 90 kms. was the fall which involved Kelme riders, Colombian Hernan Buenahora and Spaniard Javier Gomez when they hooked with each other, although they came back to the peloton with no major problems. Once passed the intergiro, at km. 90, Daniele Contrini & Mariano Piccoli, both from Brescialat, went away from the group. They reached an advantage of 4:48 minutes with 75 kms. to go, with Piccoli becoming the leader on the road, since he was at 2:44 on the overall. Tonkov's team increased the tempo and brought them back, since Piccoli is a good climber. At 30 kms. from the finish, Piccoli left Contrini behind and went for the victory, although Mapei, with Bugno in front, was reducing the advantage and would end up catching Piccoli.
There was another attack by Colombian Jose Jaime "Chepe" Gonzalez (Kelme), but it didn't prosper, since at the foot of the Terminillo, Tonkov, Pantani, Gotti and Berzin, amongst others, went to the front and form a group of 20 riders, which little by little was reduced. Half-way up the climb the selection was already made with Pantani, Tonkov, Leblanc, Piepoli, Gotti, Coppolillo and Shefer, followed closely by Petito, Noe & Simoni and behind, lost in the fog, Berzin, Ugrumov & Zaina tried to join forces to reach the front, they would never reach them. In the last part of the stage, Tonkov had to show his condition as leader and answer numerous attacks, specially by Pantani & Coppolillo and in the final section by Leblanc to get the stage win.