Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) took a gritty solo win on Monday on his Ridley Helium in the penultimate stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, besting Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone) and Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) by five seconds on the finishing ascent in Macerata. The 24-year-old Russian, a gold medalist in the points race at the 2004 Olympics, was the only member of a 12-man break to fend off the chasing efforts of the maglia azzurra group after he attacked his fellow escapees eight kilometres from the finish to earn his first victory in three years.

"I attacked and I did a good individual time trial till the finish," said Ignatiev, who has proven his prowess against the clock with a 2005 U23 time trial world championship. "My legs were good and I thought it would be nice to try something in this stage. I tried [in] some stages before, but without success. Now, I did it and for me a stage [win] in Macerata is something special. I wanted so much to win here and, finally, I did it."