VITTORIO VENETO, Italy -- Stefano Pirazzi won the 17th stage of the Giro dItalia on Wednesday, the first professional victory of his career while Nairo Quintana retained the overall leaders pink jersey. Rose Lavelle Jersey . Pirazzi made an obscene arm gesture as he crossed the finish line and was reduced to tears following his win. "It wasnt a nice gesture, Im sorry, forgive me," Pirazzi said. "But its been five years of anger, five years of criticism. As the days went by, my moral was going down. I was here to get this victory finally, that was the target. "I was unleashing all that. Five years of criticism is a lot for a young guy. I really had to deal with a lot. Today I reached a goal that I wanted since I was a young boy watching the Giro. Im very happy. Ill enjoy it and never forget this moment." Pirazzi, who had led from the breakaway, made his move with little more than a kilometre remaining and edged out Tim Wellens and Jay McCarthy in a sprint at the end of the 204-kilometre (127-mile) stage from Sarnonico to Vittorio Veneto. The peloton crossed the line 15:36 behind Pirazzi as the top overall standings were unchanged. Quintana remained 1:41 ahead of fellow Colombian Rigoberto Uran and 3:21 ahead of Cadel Evans, with Pierre Rolland only five seconds further back. Victorias Ryder Hesjedal, the 2012 Giro champion, finished 33rd in Wednesdays stage and was in ninth overall, 4:16 back of Quintana. Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., was in 158th after finishing 144th in stage 17. Quintana had moved into pink after Tuesdays tough leg, which was marred by confusion after some teams believed part of the route had been neutralized -- meaning the times for that section wouldnt count. "In reality there is no controversy," Quintana said. "I know what happened. Theyre creating a story which isnt there. "It would be unjust (if they took time away from me). The organization said the race wasnt neutralized so why remove an advantage that I won?" The peloton remained together for almost half the route before a group of 26 riders managed to get away. After the previous tough stage -- where the cyclists had to deal not only with both the legendary Gavia and Stelvio climbs, but with snow and rain as well -- the peloton was happy to keep a steady pace and let the escape go. The best-placed rider in the break was Damiano Cunego, who was more than 48 minutes behind Quintana, and so the pink jersey group allowed the gap to go out to more than 12 minutes. Thomas De Gendt attacked from the breakaway on the approach to the last of three classified climbs, the ascent up the Muro di Ca del Poggio. Pirazzi followed and caught the Belgian cyclist near the summit, and they were soon joined by Wellens, McCarthy and Matteo Montaguti. There were attacks off the chasing group but the quintets advantage continued to grow and it swiftly became apparent they would not be caught before the finish. The Giro returns to the mountains in Thursdays 18th stage, a 171km (106-mile) leg from Belluno, with a summit finish up to Rifugio Panarotta. The race ends on Sunday in Trieste. Alyssa Naeher Jersey . The game got off to a less-than-ideal start for the Jets as Oliver Ekman-Larsson found a wide open net from the slot and opened the scoring for the Coyotes a lead in the first period, but Olli Jokinen answered back just over half a minute later. Morgan Brian USA Jersey . When Reyes signed a US$106-million, six-year deal with Miami last month, there was speculation Ramirez was unhappy about being supplanted at short. But new manager Ozzie Guillen sold Ramirez on the idea. http://www.officialsocceruswntshop.com/allie-long-usa-jersey/ . The Detroit Tigers slugger fell short in his bid to become the first player to win the Triple Crown in successive seasons.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Brooklyn Nets will hit the road Saturday night against the Charlotte Hornets at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Nets ended a three-game losing streak to the Philadelphia 76ers with an 88-70 victory Friday at Barclays Center, as Mason Plumlee posted 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way. Alan Anderson and Joe Johnson scored 12 points apiece and Deron Williams handed out 10 assists for the Nets, who scored 25 of the 35 points in the fourth quarter and scored 25 points off 24 Philadelphia turnovers. Brooklyn had 16 steals on the night and a 47-37 advantage in rebounds. We were more active. Lots of deflections, lots of steals, Williams said. Charlotte had a two-game winning streak stopped with Fridays 113-107 double- overtime loss against the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis is a tough place to playy and the Hornets werent intimidated in lasting two extra periods. Mallory Pugh USA Jersey. Kemba Walker scored a game-high 28 points for the Hornets, while Gary Neal added 25 points off the bench. Gerald Henderson scored 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting and his tip-in at the end of regulation forced overtime. The Grizzlies posted an 11-5 edge in the second OT to remain solid at home. We played hard, but theyre a really good team, Walker said. At the end of the day thats what matters. Al Jefferson posted 16 points and nine rebounds in defeat. The Hornets have lost 11 of their last 13 games, but are unbeaten in the previous two at Time Warner Cable Arena. Charlotte and Brooklyn will play the first of three meetings this season and are scheduled to meet twice in March. The two teams split four meetings a season ago. ' ' '