Giro d'Italia: Stefano Pirazzi holds on for stage 17 victory

Italy's Stefano Pirazzi won stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia, holding off his rivals to win in Vittorio Veneto.

The 27-year-old was part of a five-man break and made his move late on to earn the first Giro stage win of his career.

The Bardiani Valvole rider broke down in tears after sealing the win, his team's third of this year's Giro.

Nairo Quintana retained the overall leader's pink jersey, the Colombian retaining his lead of one minute 41 seconds over compatriot Rigoberto Uran.

The Movistar rider - who also maintained his 3'21" gap to third-placed Cadel Evans - crossed the line in the peloton, nearly 15 minutes after the breakaway group had finished the stage.

But Quintana remained at the centre of controversy over his actions on Tuesday, when he took the race lead partly as a result of making up time during a descent that many teams believed had been "neutralised" - meaning some riders had not raced the section because of safety concerns.

Meetings were held among the team principals before racing began on Wednesday to discuss the issue, and subsequently team owner Oleg Tinkoff demanded the stage 16 result be cancelled, while Patrick Lefevere, from Uran's Omega Pharma - Quick-Step team, called for the resignation of race organisers.

The action on stage 17 was arguably less diverting than the continuing controversy over the previous day's racing, with an early breakaway provoking little reaction from the peloton and allowed to build up a lead of more than 12 minutes with 50km to go.

The quintet of riders, with Pirazzi joined by Tim Wellens, Jay McCarthy, Thomas De Gendt and Matteo Montaguti, fought it out among themselves with the eventual winner's decisive move coming with just over 1km left.

Stage 17 result:

1. Stefano Pirazzi (Italy/Bardiani Valvole) 4:38'11"

2. Tim Wellens (Belgium/Lotto) ST

3. Jay McCarthy (Australia/Tinkoff-Saxo)

4. Thomas De Gendt (Belgium/Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)

5. Matteo Montaguti (Italy/AG2R)

6. Jussi Veikkanen (Finland/FDJ.fr) +28"

7. Simon Geschke (Germany/Giant)

8. Fabio Felline (Italy/Trek)

9. Marco Canola (Italy/Bardiani Valvole)

10. Serge Pauwels (Belgium/Omega Pharma Quick-Step)

General classification:

1. Nairo Quintana (Colombia/Movistar) 73:05'31"

2. Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) +1'41"

3. Cadel Evans (Australia/BMC Racing) +3'21"

4. Pierre Rolland (France/Europcar) +3'26"

5. Rafal Majka (Poland/Tinkoff-Saxo) +3'28"

6. Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) +3'34"

7. Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy/AG2R) +3'49"

8. Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands/Belkin) +4'06"

9. Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Garmin) +4'16"

10. Robert Kiserlovski (Croatia/Trek) +8'02"