[Stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia was no exception. Filippo Ganna won the main event by riding solo through the fog to Camigliatello Silano, but his victory was largely due to a duel between Lotto Soudal breakaway specialist Thomas De Gendt and Movistar neo-pro Einar Rubio on the final climb of the Valico di Montescuolo The duel was a major factor in the race.

If getting into the morning breakaway group was a gamble, de Gendt was the man who was kicked out of the casino for allegedly counting cards. When a speculative attack with Peter Sagan was quickly quashed, he weighed the odds and decided against sneaking into the early breakaway. Instead, he gambled on bridging on the final climb.

De Gendt attacked from the Gruppo and caught the remnants of the break with 19km to go.

While in pursuit, the Colombian could legitimately claim that Movistar teammate Hector Carretero was in front, but de Ghent was frustrated by the lack of further cooperation once he reached the front of the race.

"He didn't say anything or make any effort. When we were chasing, that was understandable, because he had teammates in front of him. But when we caught up to his teammate, he still didn't try to do anything. Then he started attacking, so I made it my goal not to let him win."

The 33-year-old de Gendt, with four Grand Tour stage wins, a podium in the Giro, and a wealth of experience, is not a rider that Neo Pro can really turn against.

On the climb with 5km to go, Ganna was the only one to catch De Gendt and Rubio early in the day; the two traded accelerations, but each time Ganna was unable to escape his tight mark.

Later, when the Italians went all-in, de Ghent and Rubio called each other's bluff. Neither de Ghent nor Rubio gave chase, and Ganna (on paper the weakest climber of the trio) was suddenly free on the mountainside. Ganna disappeared into the fog at the top of Montescuro, and it was a gloomy day that hinted at what lay ahead for this novel fall giro, which lived up to its name.

"I think I had the legs to beat Ganna, but someone was on my wheels and didn't want to do the work to close the gap," DeGhent said.

"Ganna was dropped twice by Rubio and I attacked, but he [Rubio] still didn't want to work. And when Ganna set up, I felt it was not the right time to attack. I just waited for Rubio and he did nothing. As for me, I don't mind if Ganna wins.

Ganna quickly extended his lead. Said de Gendt: "With Ganna's weight, this climb is amazing, but the last three or four kilometers weren't so steep anymore."

Rubio was reluctant to cooperate on the climb, de Gendt said, because he feared the veteran would pull away from him on the rain-soaked descent to the finish. De Gendt, who eventually finished 44th in stage 5:51, shook his head gently at the hypothesis.

"I'm not very good on the descents," he said. If he had gone to the top with just the two of us, he would have dropped me on the descent without doing anything, and that would not be fair," de Gendt said. I would have preferred Ganna to win over Rubio."