We have 8 laps of this tough Caracas course to decide who will be this season's World Champion
Basso crashed early on the first lap, but will make it back to the peloton
As the first lap ends, a break of 6 has a small gap: Albasini, Magalhaes, Bogdan, Nydam, Froome, and Chacon
The group soon expanded to 14 riders
They got caught, so there are new attacks, led by Feillu, Hagen, Reus, Cardoso and Gourov
That also fails, and there is a new group of 8 in the lead, at the end of Lap 2 - Vorontsov, Golcer, Leipheimer, Kangert, Rolland, Vantornout, Schumacher and Albasini
Van der Hugenhaben, Walker, Vorganov and Kirsch join them to make a group of 12, and they start pulling out a lead
Already Spain and Italy are in control of the peloton, with Sanchez, Basso, Rodriguez Oliver, Gomez Marchante, Carrara and Pozzovivvo, all relaying
Into the 3rd lap - still 192km to go - Maxim Iglinski attacks
Cadel Evans also attacks, joining Iglinski
They waste no time in crossing the 3 minute gap to the break, and taking over the pace setting
With climbing over on the 3rd lap, it's the descent - and Burghardt crashes in the peloton
Not long after, there are more names down: Monfort, Dupont, Phinney, Zabriskie, Kloden and Adamsson
4th lap now, and over the top of the first climb, theres a new attack from the pack - Brajkovic, Alarcon and Kirchen. They start progressing towards the break
The pack has started raising the pace, and those who crashed on the end of Lap 3 are not going to make it back - even before the end of Lap 4, they are 7 minutes down
Onto the 5th lap, Evans and Iglinski have done the majority of the work, and they are finally able to break free from the rest of the break, with Alarcon, Brajkovic and Kirchen closing in
Those 3 chasers do pass through the break and catch Iglinski and Evans though - with only Rolland and Albasini holding on from the break
By the 6th lap, the front group is now just Evans, Iglinski, Brajkovic, Alarcon and Kirchen - with Spain and Italy still controlling the peloton, 4 minutes behind - currently relaying are Di Luca, Gomez Marchante, Gil, Nocentini, Rodriguez Oliver and Sanchez
Starting lap 7, the 5 leaders are the only riders left infront of the peloton, with a lead of 3'45
The Italian-Spanish power sharing deal seems over now though, as Spain take full control, upping the pace, with Gomez Marchante, Sanchez, Intxausti, Gil and Contador
Unity is also over in the front group. Kirchen and Iglinski are dropped, and soon after Brajkovic is going solo in the lead
The Slovenian is the strongest of the 5 - but can he hold on now that he is solo?
Here go the attacks! Spilak first
Henao Montoya and Schleck counter, as they soon catch Evans, Alarcon, Iglinski and Kirchen
Schleck and Henao Montoya have a small gap, but its not much
Spain deal with the attacks
But can they deal with Cunego, who attacks next
Rujano, Valverde and Spilak follow
Ricco, Henao Montoya and Contador attack aswell
Schleck, Uran, Pellizotti and Intxausti are amongst other attackers.
Note: Those 2 in there are not Taaramae and Pluchkin, but rather Cioban and Maimre, who are the first to be lappped
Cunego, Schleck, Valverde, Rujano and Ricco form a front group with a small lead - and they have now caught Brajkovic
But for whatever reason, the pace slowed, and it all reforms to a group of 30
Embarassingly, they go so slow that those 2 lapped riders are able to briefly unlap themselves
So now we head to the final lap. 30 riders left, to do battle for the rainbow jersey:
Sanchez, Gomez Marchante, Gil, Intxausti, Rodriguez Oliver, Contador, Valverde (Spain)
Pozzovivvo, Ricco, Nocentini, Di Luca, Ghisalberti, Carrara, Cunego, Pellizotti (Italy)
Uran, Henao Montoya (Colombia)
Alarcon, Rujano (Venezuela)
Trofimov, Menchov (Russia)
Schleck, Kirchen (Luxembourg)
Sinkewitz, Fothen (Germany)
Brajkovic, Spilak (Slovenia)
Dekker (Netherlands)
Pluchkin (Moldova)
Calzati (France)
The pressure is on. Alarcon is dropped, and then Carrara and Kirchen
Fed up of the Spanish controlling the pace, Pellizotti hits the front
He is the reigning world champion, but it looks like more of a team role today, and suddenly a lot of riders are suffering
And we are now down to 15 riders - from 27
The 15 left are Pellizotti, Gil, Dekker, Uran, Ricco, Henao Montoya, Intxausti, Schleck, Pluchkin, Menchov, Fothen, Spilak, Cunego, Rujano and Valverde
So, halfway through the final lap, and the lead group has halved. They descent towards the final climb now - with both Cunego and Valverde relaying - it does seem like Italy and Spain may have no defined leader (although on paper it will be those 2)
Now we wait for attacks, Cunego and Valverde relaying is all well and good, but come on, attack people!
And here we go - no attacks - but a further split! Valverde, Cunego, Ricco, Henao Montoya, Schleck and Dekker are ahead
Contador attacks - but who cares now, he is 2 minutes behind
But here it is at last - Henao Montoya attacks!
Surely the Under 23 World Champion cant make it 2 from 2? Ricco counters first, but his attack falls short, but now Valverde, Cunego and Schleck pass him
Valverde makes it up to the Colombian
Cunego and Schleck follow soon after
Schlecks attack ends there, but not Cunego - and he does join Valverde - with just under 2km left to climb
The assumption has to be made that nobody in the next group has the strength to attack - perhaps excluding Pellizotti, Intxausti and Gil, who now have no reason to do so. Spilak, Menchov and Dekker are amongst those relaying
Schleck and Henao Montoya are close to the 2 leaders, with the Luxembourg rider doing all the work in an attempt to close the gap
But whats this? Valverde is dropping Cunego!
They pass through some lapped riders, Valverde is looking to win this on the climb, not rely on a sprint
But Cunego is keeping close, this is going to be an enthralling descent
Still its Schleck chasing behind - no assistance from Henao Montoya - regaining the 2 infront will be a tough ask
Theres 7km of road to descend, Valverde v Cunego
And the gap is definately closing
Cunego is a stronger descender - but is he strong enough?
The closer to the line, the better placed Valverde is, he heads into the final kilometre
Schleck and Henao Montoya start to sprint for 3rd, as the line nears for the leaders
And its going to be a Spanish victory
Alejandro Valverde is the new World Champion! Repeating his 2008 triumph
Cunego closed the gap but not enough, he will be ruing not quite having the legs on the climb to follow Valverde all the way
Henao Montoya darts past Schleck to take 3rd - a tad undeserved considering he did not really help to chase the front 2 at all
Menchov is leading out the sprint in the group behind
But first, Ricco crosses solo to take 5th
Dekker was in a strong position to challenge Menchov, but drifted out wide and did not have the speed, so its Spilak coming through to challenge
But Menchov holds on for 6th, then Spilak, Dekker, Rujano, Pellizotti and Uran
Gil, Pluchkin, Intxausti and Fothen were just distanced slightly in the sprints, but will complete the top 15
5 minutes after Valverde, Contador comes across solo for 16th
Rodriguez Oliver leads in the next group, ahead of Gomez Marchante, Calzati, Di Luca and Sinkewitz
Then comes Trofimov
And then Sanchez, Pozzovivvo, Brajkovic and Nocentini
The day belongs to Alejandro Valverde however. The Spanish kept things under control, along with Italy, but when it mattered, Valverde defeated Cunego
