Frenchman John Gadret won today's 11th stage of the Giro d'Italia as Alberto Contador retained possession of the overall leader's pink jersey.
AG2R rider Gadret timed his attack to perfection, launching himself down the steep finish to hold off his pursuers and complete the 144km trek from Tortoleto to Casteldifardo in three hours, 33 minutes and 33 seconds.
Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha finished second and Giovanni Visconti of Farnese Vini was third.
Saxo Bank's Contador, who ended the stage in fifth place, maintained a 59-second advantage over HTC's Kanstantsin Siutsou in the general classification.
Ireland's Philip Duignan finished back in 85th place, some 2:54 behind stage winner Gadret, a time which sees him climb to 90th in the general classification.
'We have controlled the race,' Contador said. 'But the start was difficult. In the end, we arrived in the group and I keep the pink jersey having not made a big sacrifice today.'
Prior to the start, a minute's silence was observed in memory of Wouter Weylandt, who died on 9 May from head injuries suffered in a fall on the third stage, and whose funeral was held in Gent, Belgium today.
With the longest flat section in the race being just 3km, the riders were made to work from the start.
Despite early attempts to break away, the pack remained compact until midway through the stage.
Eleven riders, including Christophe Le Mevel of Garmin-Cevelo - third overall in the GC - made a breakaway with 70km to go and built a lead of around two and a half minutes over the peloton.
Heading into the final fourth-category climb of the day, Daniel Moreno of Katusha broke away from the leaders and although Liquigas' Valerio Agnoli went in pursuit, he could not keep up the pace.
Moreno took the bonus points as the Spaniard began the descent on his own.
Then Ignatas Konovalovas of Movistar broke clear of the chasing group in pursuit of Moreno and caught the Spaniard with 10km remaining.
A Lampre-led peloton reeled in the chasing group with 3km to go but still trailed the two leaders by 44 seconds.
Despite Moreno's brave attempt after Konovalovas had been caught, the Spaniard could not fend off the peloton with 200 metres to go as Gadret went on to capture his first stage win of this year's race.
