Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) had a great day in a rainy Italy today, as he became the first Spaniard to win the Giro di Lombardia. He decided to attack on the day's final climb of the Salite di Ello - Villa Vergano, and the chase group couldn't catch him. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) finished second and ky's Rigoberto Uran took third.

"This is the most important triumph of my whole career," said Rodriguez. "This for me was a perfect season: I won Fleche-Wallonne, and I took the second in the Giro d'Italia and third place in the Vuelta a Espana. After that I did my best to get ready for the world championships and Giro di Lombardia. In the former, my performance was so-so, but in the latter, it was a triumph.

"I was fighting for a double goal today, to win this prestigious competition and to take the lead in the UCI World Tour Ranking, and I managed both. So I'm really happy."

The rainy weather caused world champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) to crash and abandoned the race.