Armstrong struggles as the Giro going gets steeper

LANCE Armstrong was downbeat in the Dolomites as he was left humbled following a nightmare day at the Giro d'Italia.

TOUGH DAY: Lance Armstrong lost three minutes on the maglia rosa after struggling on stage five of the Giro d'Italia (Getty Images)

The Armstrong of old would have eaten up the uphill profile of this 125km stage but nearly four years out of the saddle have clearly taken their toll.

Surrounded by a posse of protective Astana team-mates, the seven-times Tour de France winner got dropped as the final climb became steep and spiteful, losing nearly three minutes on the leaders.

In the past, only a fool would write off Armstrong, who has proved time and time again that he's at his most dangerous when dismissed.

However, the evidence of the last two days in the Dolomites is hard to ignore for even his biggest supporters. 

Armstrong dropped for sixth to 22nd in the overall classification just one place behind former winner Damiano Cunego, who also had a torrid day.

"I'm definitely a little tired and It was a hard grind," admitted Armstrong.

"I knew that we would be behind and we just tried to limit our losses. I thought we might lose two minutes, but three minutes is okay."

Russia's Denis Menchov took the fifth stage, edging off the previous day's winner, Italy's Danilo Di Luca, on the line.

However, Di Luca did just enough to take control of the maglia rosa despite a brave but ultimately futile effort from Sweden's Thomas Lövkvist, who battled to stay on his wheel until the closing metres.

To make matters worse for Armstrong, all his chief rivals all finished ahead of him - including Carlos Sastre, Ivan Basso and Astana team-mate Levi Leipheimer.

The stage followed a familiar pattern with an early attack moving away from the field in opening kilometres.

France's Thomas Voeckler - who held the yellow jersey for ten stages of the 2004 Tour de France - was the first to open up an advantage.

And he was soon joined by Eros Capecchi, Francesco Gavazzi, Daniele Pietropolli, Jose Ochoa Carlos, Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez and Giovanni Visconti.

Working together they opened up a lead of nearly five minutes but the start of punishing final climb up Alpe di Siusi shattered their collective resolve as the gradient kicked up.

With the breakaway caught, several riders were active at the front but two-times Vuelta winner Menchov bided his time to claim his first ever Giro.

Meanwhile, Britain's Bradley Wiggins continued his solid start to the Giro, producing his best ever climbing performance to finish 22nd.

After putting down the hammer to pass Armstrong, he stayed with the lead group until the final three kilometres, crossing the line one minute and 47 seconds behind Menchov with fellow Brit Charly Wegulius just one place behind.

Mark Cavendish endured a torrid day, finishing in the last group which finished almost 18 minutes behind the stage winner.

Thursday's 242km sixth stage between Bressanone and Brixen-Mayrhofen will take the race into Austria and with a slightly easier profile may suit the classics specialists.