Nathan Earle
Trent Lowe
Rene Mandri
Damien Monier
Simon Richardson
Tom Southam
Davide Villella
Adam Yates

As planned, Adam was able to get himself into the day's break, as number of attacks couldn't all be neutralised by the peleton.

BMC, IAM and Astana took the early control of the peleton, and clearly did not see the ten riders off the front as any sort of threat.

Despite its size, the break worked well over the early parts, and soon the gap back to the main group was over 7 minutes at one point.

That was big enough for the BMC team, as they began to up the pace on the front.

Suddenly, the World Champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC) attacked, and put the peleton into a state of panic, as BMC just stopped working on the front.

The Belgian rider bridged the gap with ease, and as the break splintered, Adam saw his chance to hit it off on his own.

CRASH! Monier hits the deck hard from inside the peleton. He is up ok, with having difficulty riding to the finish. We will have to access him later ahead of Roma Maxima.

Back at the front, Gilbert had left Yates for dead, and the young Briton was just hoping he could drag himself back across the gap.

On the penultimate strade section, Gilbert's lead was just over a minute, with Adam sat in the gap in between.

ATTACK! Davide puts the plan into action, and jumps out of the saddle. Only Montaguti (ALM) and van Avermmaet (BMC) can go with him.

Villella links up with Adam just as we hit the finale strade section of the race. Gilbert was 24" up the road, as the peleton continued to press hard behind.

Yates did his job perfectly, and pulled Davide to within 22" of Gilbert. Could the Italian catch the World Champion?

Into the last kilometer and Gilbert leads from Villella by only 16". This was his victory to throw away, and Davide as really tiring.

Victory goes to Gilbert, who rolls over the line completely on his last legs. Davide takes 2nd, with Heinrich Haussler (IAM) attacking late to complete the podium. A great day was finalised for the tea, by Yates holding onto for Fifth!

Remy Di Gregorio
Nathan Earle
Daniel Fleeman
Daniel Lloyd
Simon Richardson
Davide Villella
Adam Yates
Simon Yates

Richardson was the man who made his way into the day's break, as we looked to put our plan for the stage into action. 4 riders in total made the break, with a further three more attacking out the peleton behind.

A large group of 7 riders would form off the front of the peleton, and together they worked well to open up a large gap.

Astana, Cannondale and Flaminia took control of the peleton, and did not seem at all worried by the size or the strength of the break.

The break's lead peaked at 8'34" before the peleton decided to up the pace and begin the chase with just over half of the stage remaining.

In the hills, the break's work was forced to be carried out by Simon, as the other teams slowly decided to stop taking turns on the front.

This played right into the hands of the Saxo led peleton, and the gap was now dropping with every pedal stroke of the main pack.

It would on the slopes that the main show would start. Stannard (SKY) attacked first, taking Rogina (ADR) with him.

The hills were a disaster for Villella and the team. Constant changes in pace, further attacks and tiring legs meant that he missed the split of the favourites and he had a long chase on the descent.

Off the front, Stannard had attacked again, and was joined by Betancur (ALM) on the run towards the finish.

The pair would be brought back at the 5km to go banner, and a total of 28, including Richardson would come to the finish ready to contest the sprint.

In the sprint, there was no doubt with the winner. Marcato (VCD) was clearly the strongest and fastest at the end, and he easily takes the win, ahead of Majka (TST) and Reda (AND). Simon would come home in 23rd, whilst Villella crossed the line 36th.