Philip Deignan has been very active in this year's Giro and today the Irishman was again in the mix when he made the right breakaway in stage 17. However, the explosive finale didn't suit the Sky climber.

Philip Deignan enjoyed another day in the break at the Giro d’Italia but was unable to bridge across to the decisive attack in the closing stages.

The Irishman forced his way into a significant 26-man move after the first hour of stage 17 and looked to get himself into position as it became clear the escapees would not be caught.

Attacks in the closing stages saw a group of five riders go clear to contest the win in Vittorio Veneto, with Deignan launching two accelerations in a gutsy bid to get across.

After being shut down on each occasion, it was left to Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani-CSF) to take the win with a well-timed attack heading into the final kilometre. Tim Wellens and Jay McCarthy rounded out the podium places, with the next group containing Deignan in 16th spot, 28 seconds back.

After an intense fight in the high mountains a day earlier, the general classification contenders were content to sit in the bunch, which was untroubled by the break, eventually rolling across the line over 15 minutes back.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) comfortably retained pink by his leading margin of 1:41 over Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step). Sebastian Henao remains Team Sky’s best-placed GC on the fringes of the top 20, with more chances to move up in the final four stages.

After the stage Sports Director Dario Cioni admitted: "With that parcours it was quite difficult to get a result as the final climb was relatively short and quite explosive. Philip did everything he could to bridge across but it was a difficult ask in the final kilometres.

"The move didn't go for 70km and then all of a sudden a big group went. It was a case of who was in there at the time went clear.

"It's another summit finish tomorrow so we'll look to put riders up the road again. We know we've got riders who are climbing well and we'll continue pushing for the stage win."