There were several breakaways in the first part of the 195 km stage, but with 50 km to go 17 riders, including eventual winner Danilo Di Luca and his Acqua & Sapone team mate Taborre, went clear and steadily started building up their advantage.

In the back, nine riders including Alexandr Pliuschin didn't want to settle with the situation and counterattacked. Despite their effort, they weren't able to bridge across to the leaders.

On the top of Visconti climb, 30 km from the line, Di Luca and three other riders attacked and rushed on. With 1,5 km to go, with a gap of well over 1 minute, Danilo Di Luca attacked and finished solo.

Baffi: "Pliuschin finished in the second group. He did a great effort on the last climb, but then backed off when he started having pain in the knee. That was the right decision, I think. All the other rider, except Hofstetter, finished the race. Hofstetter has an light injury in the leg, so he withdrew."