IN BRIEF : Australian Wins Cycle Race Stage

MEDA, Italy —  Phil Anderson of Australia won the 17th stage of the Tour of Italy cycling race today, edging four pursuers by a few seconds at the finish line.

Frenchman Laurent Fignon, who finished in the pack 15 seconds behind the winner, retained the pink jersey of the overall leader with only five stages to go.

The 31-year-old Australian led the pack along with Rolf Jaermann of Switzerland and Italians Moreno Argentin, Maurizio Fondriest and Gianni Bugno, nine miles from Meda. As the Italians and Jaermann prepared for the sprint and controlled one another, Anderson sprinted ahead and made it to the finish, scoring his first stage victory in the “Giro.”

In the overall standings, Fignon held an advantage of 1 minute, 50 seconds over Italian runner-up Flavio Giupponi.