Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) used his well-known explosiveness on the steepest slopes on the classic finish in Chieti in today's victory to take a commanding stage victory in Tirreno-Adriatico. Behind Chris Froome (Sky) got rid of leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) to take over the lead.

With the steep finishin Chieti being part of the Tirreno-Adriatico route since 2010, it has been somewhat of mystery that Joaquin Rodriguez had not won a stage tailor made to his explosive characteristics.  With an aggressive acceleration on the steepest part of the final climb less than 2 kilometers from the finish he burst clear of a select group of favourites to finally put the record straight and close the obvious gap in his palmares.

8 seconds later a 5-man group of GC favourites had to sprint for the second step on the podium - and more importantly the bonus seconds. Bauke Mollema (Blanco) put his disappointing performance in Saturday's queen stage behind him and beat Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) to the line.

Chris Froome rolled in last in the group behind Mauro Santambrogio (Vini Fantini) and Chris Horner (Radioshack) to claim the 6th spot. More importantly to him was the fact that leader Michal Kwiatkowski had been dropped on the steep slopes leading to the finish, and as a consequence the Englishman took over the overall lead with just two days remaining.

He will have to defend the jersey on a hilly stage tomorrow where a number of smaller climbs are spread throughout the 209 km course. The stage suits a breakaway while the GC contenders will keep their powder dry for the final time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto on Tuesday.

A strong break goes clear

With a length of 230 km, with two high mountains along the way - the last with its top just 40 km from the finish - and with two short, steep climbs in the final 7 km today's stage was seen as a perfect opportunity for explosive climbers to gain time before the final race against the clock. With its length it was also seen as ideal preparation for riders aiming at Milan-Sanremo.

To avoid being forced to control such a long stage, a number of teams were keen to put riders into the day's early break. As a consequence a flurry of attacks dominated the early going before a break was finally let go. Containing Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil), Stijn Devolder (Radioshack), Michael Schär (BMC), Maxim Belkov (Katusha), Valerio Agnoli (Astana), Sebastian Langeveld (Orica-GreenEdge), Oscar Gatto (Vini Fantini) and Cesare Benedetti (Team NetApp-Endura), it was a strong one, and a number of the teams with GC contenders had made sure to be present.

Benedetti was dropped on the first climb of the day while the remaining eight riders built up a substantial gap which reached its maximum at just below the nine minute mark. In the peloton it was race leader Kwiatkowski's Omega Pharma-Quick Step who did the early tempo-setting.

After having won last year's stage to Chieti Peter Sagan (Cannondale) fancied his chances, and he asked his teammates to up the pace. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r) has had a strong start to the season and revels in short, sharp finishes, so the French team also contributed to the chase.

Sky does it the Sky way

The gap started to come down, and as they started the day's most difficult climb, the Passo Lanciano (11,3 km, 8,5%), the advantage was below the 6 minute mark. Entering the climb Sky decided to put Kwiatkowski under pressure and - as usual - the team went to the front to set a frantic pace up the steep slopes. Riders dropped off thick and fast, and the gap to the front started to come down rapidly.

In the breakaway Damiano Cunego dropped his companions as the group splintered into pieces. Gatto, Langeveld, Agnoli, Belkov, Devolder, Schär and Flecha were - in that order - all caught before the top, and so Cunego was the sole escapee as he crested the summit. In the peloton Salvatore Puccio and Joe Dombrowski had done the early pace-setting for Froome while Dario Cataldo had been in charge in the last part.

Most discussion prior to the stage had surrounded Sagan's ability to stay with the leaders on the long Passo Lanciano climb and so get a chance to use his explosiveness on the short, sharp climbs towards the finish. As the drastically reduced peloton started the descent the Slovakian champion was still present, and surrounded by teammates Moreno Moser and Damiano Caruso he looked poised to strike in the final.

Cunego puts in an amazing effort, but is finally caught

On the descent Cataldo was assisted by Sergio Henao in the pace-setting, and they strung out the peloton. However, they failed to make much inroads into the advantage of Cunego who put up a brave fight for a long time. As they hit the first of the final two climbs with 7 km remaining, "Il piccolo principe", however, had to give up, and he was swallowed up by the group which splintered under Henao's frantic pace.

Sagan dug really deep to stay with the leaders, but halfway up the climb he exploded and drifted back. Over the top of the climb Contador, Froome, Horner, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Roman Kreuziger (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) surged clear to contest an intermediate sprint. Kreuziger pushed on and was joined by Andrey Amador (Movistar) in a late bid for victory.

As Henao assumed his position ahead of the peloton, the duo was caught as they entered the final climb with two kilometers remaining. Henao and Rigoberto Uran (Sky) set a strong pace which reduced the group to a very select few, and finally they god rid of Kwiatkowski. At the steepest point Rodriguez finally produced his effort and stroke clear of his contenders.

Froome took over the pace-setting himself and managed to put Nibali into difficulty. Now reduced to a 5-man group they crested the summit almost 10 seconds behind Rodriguez who powered his way to an impressive solo victory. 8 seconds later the 5-man group fought out a sprint for the remaining podium places while Kwiatkowski rolled over the line 35 seconds after the Spaniard.

Froome takes a 20-second lead over Contador and Nibali into tomorrow's final road stage of the race.

Result

1 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver - Katusha 6.06.43
2 Bauke Mollema - Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0.08
3 Alberto Contador Velasco - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
4 Mauro Santambrogio - Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
5 Christopher Horner - RadioShack Leopard
6 Christopher Froome - Sky Procycling
7 Vincenzo Nibali - Astana Pro Team 0.17
8 Przemyslaw Niemiec - Lampre-Merida 0.22
9 Roman Kreuziger - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
10 Daniel Martin - Garmin-Sharp 0.28