5 big climbs for the ProTour peloton to tackle in the Giro di Lombardia. Who will take the finish in Lecco as the winner?
There is a breakaway of 5. Stybar, Mat Senan, Ibanez, Zaugg and Nordhaug.
And we can skip straight to the penultimate climb, the Madonna del Ghisallo, which starts at around 50km to go. Not much has happened, and the break leads by 3 minutes.
Jukka Vastaranta is at the forefront of Pearl Adidas' efforts to reduce the gap. Notably, B&O's 3 key riders are very well placed at the moment.
Over the top, the break still leads by 2 minutes. Koenigsegg, Wiggle and Bacardi take over the pace setting.
Across Lake Como we can see the finish line, but there is still 20km remaining, and one last climb, Villa Vergano.
The breakaway has seen their lead cut to 50 seconds by the start of the climb, as Nordhaug leads them onto it.
And finally the attacks kick off. Bakelandts, Trofimov, Cunego and Boasson Hagen are the first to go.
Ricco, Schleck, Van Garderen, Ponzi and Ulissi are next.
And then after that it is Di Maggio, Gesink, Gastauer, van der Hugenhaben, Caruso, Nibali and Gilbert.
Lots of riders, not much space on the road - especially as the attacks see the break being caught.
The result is that the situation is just seen as 'grupo compacto', 1 big peloton once again, and the impetus disappears.
At least, it does until Frank Schleck surges forwards for a fresh attack!
The Luxembourger has caught everybody else off guard, and so close to the top of the climb. He flings his Corratec bike into the descents.
In pursuit are a group of 6: Boasson Hagen, Ricco, Trofimov, Cunego, Bakelandts and Gesink.
There is another small gap to Van Garderen, Ponzi, Nibali, Van der Hugenhaben, Nordhaug and Mat Senan - the latter clinging on well from the breakaway!
The peloton follows on for them.
Schleck's lead stands at 27 seconds. He is about as good as any of his 6 pursuers going downhill.
It is a further 24 seconds to the 2nd chase group, which is now just Nibali, Ponzi and Van Garderen. The latter two are clinging on to Nibali, who is a great descender and flying down the hill.
5km to go for Frank Schleck. He has been impressively consistent in this race over the years, with a record of: 2-4-5-3-1-3. He is trying his best to add to that today.
Back in the peloton, it is looking like they must settle for positions 11th and below. The key names in the relegation battle are all here: Pozzato, Van den Broeck, Klemme, Guldhammer and Grivko. Heineken also have Eastman in this 36 man group, but Van den Broeck is teammateless.
Up front, Nibali drags Ponzi and Van Garderen up to the first chasing group. Schleck remains in the 'carrot on a stick' position.
2.2km to go. 24 seconds gap.
Ricco launches the sprint. Being fast at the finish is Schleck's weakness, so his lead is surely catchable.
It won't be Ricco doing the catching though, instead Bakelandts takes the final corner in second place, followed by Boasson Hagen and Trofimov. There is the finish line once again.
At 1.2km to go, Schleck spots the danger and starts sprinting. Now it is under the flamme rouge they go.
Quickly back to the peloton as Gilbert is leading out the sprint there. Grivko is best placed of the B&O/Puma/Heineken riders.
But who is going to win the race? Cunego joins the mix as they all close in on Schleck.
Bakelandts is holding 2nd, but Boasson Hagen is moving up on him. They are at the back wheel of Schleck.
The Luxembourg champion is feeling confident...
And just holds on! Frank Schleck wins the Giro di Lombardia. It is his first big win of the season, and quite possibly his last big win of his career.
Boasson Hagen is 2nd, from Bakelandts, Cunego and Trofimov.
Gesink trails in 6th, beating Ricco.
The three who just missed the move, but fought hard to get back, come next. Ultimately not fresh enough to make it count in the sprint. Ponzi takes 8th, and he in particular will feel he could have done more.
Van Garderen takes 9th, and Nibali 10th.
Who is going to take 11th place? With a late charge, it is Pippo Pozzato! Can that haul Heineken to safety? Gilbert, Kangert, Kritskiy, Denifl and Ulissi also well placed.
Van den Broeck labours to 21st. Not his race, and not good news for Puma-SAP as that is behind Grivko, who takes 19th.
1
Frank Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
7h23'50
2
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Aker - MOT
s.t.
3
Jan Bakelants
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
4
Damiano Cunego
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
5
Yuri Trofimov
Koenigsegg
s.t.
6
Robert Gesink
Project 1t4i
s.t.
7
Riccardo Ricco
Team Bacardi
s.t.
8
Simone Ponzi
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Tejay Van Garderen
Wikipedia
s.t.
10
Vincenzo Nibali
UBS - BMC
s.t.
11
Filippo Pozzato
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
+ 1'16
12
Philippe Gilbert
Pendleton's
s.t.
13
Tanel Kangert
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
14
Timofey Kritskiy
Tinkoff Bank - Rosneft OJSC
s.t.
15
Stefan Denifl
Wikipedia
s.t.
16
Diego Ulissi
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
17
Damiano Caruso
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
18
Dario Cataldo
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
19
Andrei Grivko
Team B&O
s.t.
20
Luis Leon Sanchez Gil
Project 1t4i
s.t.
21
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
22
Robin van der Hugenhaben
Koenigsegg
s.t.
23
Jukka Vastaranta
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
24
Domenico Pozzovivo
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
25
Santo Anza
Koenigsegg
s.t.
26
Cesare Di Maggio
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
27
Rasmus Guldhammer
Team B&O
s.t.
28
Michael Albasini
UBS - BMC
s.t.
29
Ben Gastauer
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
30
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Aker - MOT
s.t.
31
Zdenek Stybar
Milka - AVG
s.t.
32
Ruben Ibanez
Pendleton's
s.t.
33
Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan
Project 1t4i
s.t.
34
Maciej Paterski
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
35
Sergei Kolesnikov
Tinkoff Bank - Rosneft OJSC
s.t.
36
Aleksej Kunshin
Tinkoff Bank - Rosneft OJSC
s.t.
37
Marcello Pavarin
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
38
Ryan Eastman
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
39
Vegard Robinson Bugge
Aker - MOT
s.t.
40
Tom Diggle
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
41
Oliver Zaugg
UBS - BMC
s.t.
42
Florian Morizot
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
43
Anthony Roux
Team Bacardi
s.t.
44
Jelle Vanendert
Project 1t4i
s.t.
45
Matteo Rabottini
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
46
Domenik Klemme
Team B&O
s.t.
47
Frantisek Rabon
Milka - AVG
+ 3'11
48
Peter Sagan
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
49
Rafael Valls
Santander
s.t.
50
Konstantin Siutsou
Pendleton's
s.t.
51
Daniel Oss
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
52
Marcel Wyss
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
53
Ran Margaliot
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
54
Danny Summerhill
Wikipedia
s.t.
55
Toms Skujins
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
56
Thibaut Pinot
Wikipedia
s.t.
57
Laurent Pichon
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
58
Matthias Frank
UBS - BMC
s.t.
59
Mwangi Samwel
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
60
Pello Bilbao
Team Bacardi
+ 4'04
61
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team B&O
s.t.
62
Kleber Silva
Pendleton's
s.t.
63
Ramon Sinkeldam
Project 1t4i
s.t.
64
Leopold König
Milka - AVG
s.t.
65
Amaël Moinard
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
66
Dominique Nerz
Team Puma - SAP
+ 4'42
67
Jack Bobridge
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
68
Moises Dueñas
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
69
Petar Panayotov
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
70
Salvatore Mancuso
Team Bacardi
s.t.
71
Hubert Schwab
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
72
Artemio Moschella
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
73
Alexandre Shushemoin
Aker - MOT
s.t.
74
Jonathan Castroviejo
Project 1t4i
+ 5'33
75
Arnold Jeannesson
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
76
Serge Pauwels
Koenigsegg
s.t.
77
Simon Zahner
UBS - BMC
s.t.
78
Jakub Danacik
Koenigsegg
s.t.
79
Pieter Ghyllebert
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
80
Chiaffredo Grippo
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
81
Andrew Talansky
Wikipedia
s.t.
82
Teodoro Costagli
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
83
Olivier Le Gac
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
84
Alex Kirsch
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
85
Jude Libert
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
86
Jonathan McEvoy
Pendleton's
s.t.
87
Travis Meyer
Wikipedia
s.t.
88
Riccardo Zoidl
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
89
Roman Kreuziger
Milka - AVG
s.t.
90
Nebojsa Jovanovic
Pendleton's
s.t.
91
Matej Vysna
Milka - AVG
s.t.
92
Mauro Facci
Simply Red Bull
+ 7'26
93
Mathieu Perget
Team Bacardi
s.t.
94
Nick Kinney
Wikipedia
s.t.
95
Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
96
Adil Jelloul
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
97
Hector Duenas Nevado
Aker - MOT
s.t.
98
Sebastien Einsle
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
99
Fabio Felline
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
100
Christopher Juul-Jensen
Aker - MOT
s.t.
101
Eric Berthou
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
102
Valerio Agnoli
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
103
Aidis Kruopis
Team Bacardi
s.t.
104
Vegard Stake Laengen
Aker - MOT
s.t.
105
Jurgen Van Goolen
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
106
Jakub Kratochvila
Milka - AVG
s.t.
107
Ole Hirschlein
Lotto - Cervelo
+ 8'49
108
Mattia Pozzo
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
109
Jakub Novak
Milka - AVG
+ 9'28
110
Ethan Weiss
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
