Yesterday, we saw a solo breakaway by Rik Verbrugghe of the Cofidis team, but he was not able to hold on all the way to the end. Today, five riders (Luis Laverde (CSF), Johannes Froehlnger (Gerolsteiner), David Millar (Slipstream Chipotle), Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff) and Francisco Perez Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne)) were able to get away and stay away.

The group of five led by as much as 9 minutes with 87 km to go, and saw their lead decrease little by little over the remainder of the race. By the 28 km mark, the peloton was starting to sort itself out, with the LPR Brakes team first pushing the pace, then Liquigas, Astana and a solo Paolo Bettini driving the group.

With just 5 km to go and an uphill finish approaching, the leaders started making moves. Froehlnger was the first to go, and then Perez made his move. However, it was Brutt that made it across the line first, with Froelnger, Laverde, Perez and Bettini just behind. David Millar had a mechanical just before the 1km and finished back in the pack.

Pellizotti still holds the maglia rosa. Since the peloton finished together, there should be little change in the G.C. �