Joaquim Rodriguez has made amends for his gut-wrenching loss on the final strait of the Road World Championships by streaking clear to win the Tour of Lombardy for a second year in a row.
The Spaniard, who was pipped to the rainbow jersey by Rui Costa in Florence last week, breezed to victory in the 242km race from Bergamo to Lecco, dubed the 'Race of the Falling Leaves'.
After pulling away on the final climb 10km from the line, the Katusha rider went on to win by 17 seconds over compatriot Alejandro Valverde, while Rafal Majka came in third place.
Victory also sees Rodriguez overtake Chris Froome at the top of UCI World Tour rankings.
The one-day race is the final instalment of the five 'Monuments' - which includes Milan-San Remo in Italy, Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in Belgium and Paris-Roubaix in France - that are raced annually.
Michael Penkman
