Italy's Michele Scarponi led from almost start to finish in a stunning display of stamina to take the sixth stage of the Giro d'Italia on Thursday.
Fellow Italian Danilo Di Luca, of LPR, retained the race leader's pink jersey after a 248 km ride in which a five-man breakaway provided much of the day's drama on what was a transitional stage into nearby Austria.
Di Luca, the 2007 champion, retained his five-second lead over second-placed Swede Thomas Lovkvist with his Columbian team-mate Michael Rogers still in third at 36s.
A quartet of arguably more probable Giro winners - Levi Leipheimer, Denis Menchov, Ivan Basso and Carlos Sastre - sit in fourth to seventh places.
Scarponi was part of the earlier five-man escape group which formed around 50km into the stage, but for most of whom the stage's principal climb at Hochkrimml 50km from the finish line was their undoing.
Only Belarussian Vasik Kiryienka managed to stay with Scarponi on the ascent before dropping behind, apparently due to cramp.
Scarponi dug deep, went off on his own and managed to hold off a rapidly closing but tired peloton.
Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen of Columbia attacked the pursuers in the final kilometre to finish second at around 30s on the stage, thus picking up the bonus seconds that may otherwise have been snatched by rivals of his team.
It is Scarponi's first Giro stage win and comes only months after returning to the peloton following an 18-month ban for his implication in the Operation Puerto doping scandal.
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