The last stage in Trentino starts on a flat terrain but there are two hard climbs on the last half, which will surely make some differences between the favorites.
Serpa starts the last day in the yellow jersey and after winning the previous mountain stage he has a really nice chance to keep the jersey and win the race, while his main rival, Ricco will have to put in a very strong ride if he wants to take the back 55 seconds that are separating him from the yellow jersey
At the only intermediate sprint of the day, 7 riders were in the breakaway: Serov - first in the sprint, Bertagnolli - best placed overall - 22nd at 5 minutes and 16 seconds, Tzortzakis, Lindgren, Bol, de Romjin and Libert
Behind them, Hernandez Gutirrez had also attacked but he didn't manage to join the first group until the first climb of the day started
The escapes started the first climb with an advantage of 8 minutes over the pack, where Pirelli were just starting their job
Bertagnolli set the pace in the breakaway group for most of the climb and halfway through neither of the other escapes were able to keep it up with him and he found himself alone in front
The Italian was first at the top of the climb, with of his fellow escapes being already caught by the pack even though they had a huge advantage at the foot of the climb
At more than 3 minutes, he was followed by a group of 3 with Bol, Hernandez Gutierrez and Serov. But the group had less than 1 minute left in front of the pack and it was clear that it was only a matter of time before they would be caught
They were indeed caught on the downhill, which made Bertagnolli the only survivor from the breakaway before the last climb
But with less than 3 minutes in front of the pace at the foot of the climb, Bertagnolli would have do make a great ride all by himself if he wants to bring Wiggle their second victory in a row
As soon as the pack reached the final climb of the race, Ricco made his move, with Bertagnolli's team - mate and team leader, Cataldo right behind him
Cataldo wasn't able to stay with Ricco for too long though and the Bacardi rider left him behind right before the 10 kilometers banner
A few minutes later, Ricco caught and dropped the other Wiggle rider, Bertagnolli - who was definitely too tired, and took the lead of the race with just 10 kilometers left before the finish
Ricco was flying on the road at that point as Cataldo lost 50 seconds to him in only 1 kilometer!
1 minute and 20 seconds behind Ricco there was a group of favorites, which included Taaramae and Serpa. Astarloza, Evans, Petrov, Perez Sanchez and Abal were there too but it looked like they all missed the right move
With more than 1 minute between Ricco and Serpa with 10 kilometers before the finish, the Italian was now in the virtual yellow jersey
Serpa was clearly not having a great day and he was almost dropped a few times from the favorites group, which was mostly led by Taaramae
The group caught the 2 Wiggle riders that were dropped by Ricco but there was no sign of the Italian on the road with 5 kilometers left to ride
Ricco was doing great in front all by himself as he won other 10 seconds over in his chasers and he had a lead of 1 minute and a half at the 5 kilometers banner
In the last kilometers of the climb, Serpa took the lead in the chasing group in a final attempt to keep his yellow jersey but he didn't look like gaining any time on Ricco as some of the riders that were dropped off before were finding their way back into the favorites group
Serpa entered the last kilometer in front of the chasers, followed by Petrov and Perez Sanchez, while Alarcon, who came from behind in final kilometers, was trying Taaramae back in Serpa's wheel
But in front, Ricco was enjoying his first win of the season and what could be a move to win 3 distinctive jerseys. One thing is clear though, he is the winner of this year's Giro del Trentino!
Serpa and Petrov finished more than 2 minutes behind the Italian, but if it's any consolation for the Pirelli rider he still finished second overall and first in the KoM competition even though he has the same amount of points as Ricco
Perez Sanchez came at 2 minutes and 16 seconds, which would secure him a top 5 overall, a very good place since he wasn't the team leader at the start of the race
Alarcon finished at 2'24, with Taaramae further 10 seconds behind but both the Ikea riders are keeping their places in the GC, with the Estonian taking the win in the young riders competition
Cataldo took 7th in the stage, in front of Astarloza, while Evans and Abal lost their places in the stage's top 10 to Kohl and Eltink in the last kilometer of the climb
