Maxim Iglinskiy won the Montepaschi Strade Bianche Toscana in Italy today. After 190 kilometers, 57 of which were over unpaved roads, Iglinskiy beat out Thomas Lövkvist and Michael Rogers. Garmin's Ryder Hesjedal finished fifth, one place behind Filippo Pozzato. Iglinskiy, Lövkvist, Rogers and Hesjedal escaped with six kilometers to go and were joined by Pozzato and Ginanni in the final kilometer.
Iglinskiy had no regrets changing his program around. "I came for the first time to the Eroica Strade Bianche and I won a beautiful race," Iglinskiy said after the race according to tuttobiciweb.it. The 28-year-old used his experience in the three-up sprint with Lövkvist and Rogers, shadowing the Swedish rider. "In the final I was looking to play a little trick. I went wide in the last corner so I could do the sprint the way I wanted."
The former Kazakh national champion has won a few races. "But here I achieved the best victory of my career. Now I will go to the classics with confidence because these are races that suit me well, especially the Amstel Gold race."
Iglinskiy clarified that he won't be racing the Giro d'Italia. "No, I won't do it. But I will follow it from afar and cheer for my idol, Alexander Vinokourov."
Lövkvist could not get his tactic implemented. "I knew I had to be riding from the front," the Swede told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I did that, first in the climb, then in the center of Siena. Iglinskiy squeezed me out, but that's how racing goes."
Rogers was happy about his improvement over 2009. "I did not finish last year. This time, I felt much better. But in the final, with the road straight and the cobbles, it was impossible to come back."
A three-man break formed early, with Diego Caccia, Pavel Brutt and Bernhard Eisel. Behind, Sky was making the pace for Lövkvist, Saxo Bank pulled for Fabian Cancellara on a nice spring day in Italy. After catching the front runners and the elimination of another dangerous break - Stefano Garzelli, Vincenzo Nibali, Rogers, Simon Spilak and Ginanni gained over a minute on the field - it was the move initiated by Iglinskiy that stuck.
Results
1 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 4:59:48
2 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:00:01
3 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia
4 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha 0:00:18
5 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions 0:00:19
6 Francesco Ginanni (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:24
7 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:43
8 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Esp) Sky Professional Cycling Team
9 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana 0:00:49
10 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
11 Fabian Cancellara (SUI) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:19
12 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:41
13 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
14 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
15 Simon Spilak (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini
16 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
17 Luca Paolini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
18 Simon Clarke (Aus) ISD - Neri 0:03:04
19 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
20 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana