Five tough ascents up the famous colle di S. Luca (220m difference in height at an average of 10.8%) made this italian Classic, indeed one of my favorites, all the more exciting.

At the third passage (at km 180 in the race) a strong trio comprising Fuglsang, Gesink and Lovkvist took off (5'58" was the time of their ascent), with Vinokourov catching up shortly after with an impressive effort.

The four continued their action through the fourth passage (time of the ascent was 6'08"), with the most immediate chasing group about 30" back.

At the beginning of the last climb they still had 35" advantage on a small group with Evans - Cunego - Kolobnev.

Fuglsang was the first to make his move, Vino tried to get on his wheel, eventually "exploding" at the Curva delle Orfanelle, but it was Gesink who won the 3-men sprint ahead of Fuglsang and Lovkvist; 5'40" was the time of their final climb (VAM=2330m/h).
New World Champion Cadel Evans took the 4th place, with a time on the ascent of 5'30"(VAM=2400m/h), equalling Frank Schleck's record of 2007.

Such performance, expressed on a climb of 10.8% is equal to 7.8 watt/kg...