LÖFKVIST SURVIVES FLAT TYRE

Thomas Löfkvist battled back from a flat tyre to finish just nine seconds down on Cadel Evans after the Australian had sprinted to victory on a hotly-contested penultimate stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.

Löfkvist had been right in the mix on the fourth and final lap of Macerata, but required a wheel change after puncturing less than 10 kilometres from home and worked brilliantly to limit his losses on the steep drag back up to the destination town.

ThOMAS ended the day in 14th position and dropped one place in the overall standings to ninth as a consequence.

1 - Cadel Evans (AUS) - BMC Racing - (27:26:33)

2 - Michele Scarponi (ITA) - Lampre - (+9)

3 - Ivan Basso (ITA) - Liquigas - (+12)

4 - Robert Gesink (NED) - Rabobank - (+15)

5 - Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) - Liquigas - (+21)

6 - Damiano Cunego (ITA) - Lampre - (+24)

7 - Philippe Gilbert (BEL) - Omega Pharma - Lotto - (+33)

8 - Tiago Machado (POR) - RadioShack - (+42)

9 - Thomas Löfkvist - Team Sky - (+46)

10 - Marco Pinotti (ITA) - HTC - Highroad - (+46)