Welcome to the Giro de Lago de Garda, and this race has drawn out all of the big guns, Ricco, Gilbert, Ginanni, Pozzato, Ponzi, Efemkin, Monfort. I could go on.
It's raining, so the riders will be sodden after the 250km, however it's not stopping them so off we go
We have a break of 5 form immediately: Masciarelli, Ovechkin, Weiss, Teklehaimanot and Bajadali
150km to go and already Wiggle and Bacardi just subtly push the pace on the hills, just enough to hurt anyone not feeling great today
Vespa and Mercedes get involved in the chasing lark, some people a going to be very annoyed if an Italian doesn't take it today
50km to go and the break hitsss the worst of todays climbs, 10km long with a 7km segment at over 10%. They only have a 2 minute lead on the peleton
Wiggle push up the hill hard, the break is pulled back, but more importantly Ponzi must be feeling good
And as the summit nears Ponzi launches a scathing attack
No one even thinks of following, while Wiggles strength at the front of the peleton mocks Merecedes attempts to control the move
As Ponzi hits the short yet sharp penultimate climb his lead is a 1'20"
In the peleton Pozzato feels he has no choice but to attack, Gilbert and Ginanni agree
As they crest the summit, Ponzi still has a good advantage
Behind the three chasers, a group of 5 forms: Efimkin, Caruso, Kolobnev, Albasini and Gil
Down the hill they chase, yet they get no closer, Ponzi's lead is up to 1'30"
While the peleton have pulled back the second chasers, although they are now 3 minutes behind Ponzi
As Ponzi hits 20km to go the gaps have remained fairly constant, however Ponzi has now been solo for 27km, he must be feeling it
Gil attacks
Further forwards, so does Gilbert, Ginanni is slow to respond, distracted, possibly by the rumours of an investigation into his relationship with a certain doctor, however he soon tries to follow
However as he hits the final climb, GIlbert has an advantge over the other 2
Ponzi is not out of range either, Gilbert's attack halved his lead
Now Ricco attacks, he's waited and waited, but his team hasn't been strong enough to justify it, can he do it on his own?
Ponzi tops the final hill with 10km to go, he seems to be holding strong, and the decent from here on in should favour him
Pozzato is struggling to stay with Ginanni
He manages to work his way back
No one is going to stop Ponzi though as he takes an excellent win, he went hard and early, caught everyone by surprise, and they never got close to him again
Gilbert gets second
Pozzato leads Ginanni in for 3rd and 4th
Ricco takes 5th
Monfort wins the sprint for 6th ahead of Caruso, Kolobnev and Gil
