'Nothing is over til you pass the finish line' - How Igor Arrieta turned disaster into a career-defining moment at the Giro d'Italia

He attacked, he crashed, he went off course, he got back into contention and he won: Igor Arrieta dedicated one of the most memorable stage victories in recent Giro d'Italia history to his three teammates forced to abandon in a mass pile-up early in the race.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG's tough start to the Giro began even before the first stage, as one of their GC leaders João Almeida was sidelined from starting due to illness, but much worse was to come.

As a result of the mass crash on stage 2, five UAE riders went down and both Jay Vine and Marc Soler were forced to abandon with major injuries. Then the team's other contender for the overall, Adam Yates was a DNS - again, as a result of injuries from the pile-up - the following day.

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UAE's Giro looked all but wrecked, but on stage 4 Jhonathan Narváez - himself badly injured in the Tour Down Under - provided a major boost for team morale when he claimed a small group sprint victory. And as Arrieta told journalists on Wednesday, the Ecuadorian's triumph acted as the ideal motivation to go for the win himself 24 hours later.

"Seeing him win was a big inspiration, particularly after that big crash just two days before," Arrieta said, a crash where he did not fall, but his bike was wrecked completely.

"Then there my teammates who went home on the second day of the race. They'd worked so hard, then on one corner, they all had to go home. So this win, it's all for them."

If the build-up was a major rollercoaster for Arrieta, his own pathway to victory could hardly have been more dramatic itself and teetering on the edge of disaster not once but twice. First there was his crash on the descent to Potenza, then after he'd managed to regain contact, another moment of crisis when he went off course.

Finally, having regained contact again with fellow-breakaway Afonso Eulálio, despite both visibly running on fumes, he was able to beat the Bahrain Victorious rider, who had the major compensation of the overall lead, in an agonisingly-long sprint for the line.

Asked if it was a hard day or a crazy day, Arrieta answered simply - "Both. It was crazy because of the weather, the start wasn't great and there was a long descent off an early climbing and I got super-cold.

"Then there was a big fight for the break, I didn't know who was in front or behind and suddenly there were 20 of us on the front.

"It was difficult to see what was the right moment, and I tried to anticipate" - by attacking on a short climb - "because I thought all the guys would try on the harder ascent that followed."

Near the summit of that tougher climb, the Monte Grande di Viggiano, Arrieta was caught by Eulálio, and then on the rainsoaked descent, near-disaster struck for the first time when he crashed. By the time he was back on his bike, it looked like any chance of the 24-year-old Basque taking the first Grand Tour stage win of his career had gone.

"We spoke about collaborating" - as Eulálio would take the lead, "but then after I crashed he'd gone," Arrieta recounted. "Then when we were aiming for a sprint together, I went straight on at a corner.

"I thought, it's not possible to finish like this, so I did my best to catch up again. Eulálio was suffering, I thought finally I could get the win, and when I did, it was super-nice."

Shivering so much he had to get an extra jacket while talking to reporters, despite the stage being run off in very chilly, rainy conditions, Arrieta said it hadn't been his coldest ever day on the bike. "Although maybe I'm the coldest I've ever been now," he said through chattering teeth.

What could have been a challenge, though, was when he crashed, and Eulálio continued on with the two separated by nearly 30 seconds at one point, only for Eulalio to fall as well, giving Arrieta the opportunity to regain contact.

"When I went down, the first thing I thought was I hadn't done anything serious so I needed to go for the victory," Arrieta told reporters. "In a bike race, they always say nothing is over til you are past the finish line.

"When Eulálio got ahead in the last two kilometres, I was thinking it wouldn't be possible. But then I kept going and when I got on his wheel I was thinking, maybe I can win.

"I didn't have anything left by that time but I knew Eulálio was also suffering. Really, we both deserved the victory."

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