a long break by rider gorazd stangelj finished with 8 kilometers to go. by then, 's eddy mazzoleni upped the pace. he thinned out the group until there were about 15 riders left. attacks followed by jose angel gomez marchante and sylwester szmyd. but the only real successful attack was by spaniard igor antón. dutch rider thomas dekker saw the danger and took over from mazzoleni. as a result, only five riders could follow. american cyclist chris horner attacked with 4 kilometers to go. dekker replied instantly and with much pain and suffering also frenchman john gadret managed to follow. the trio caught up with anton, who was happy he could sit in last wheel and follow. although dekker made the strongest impression and tried to get away twice, it was anton who took the win. dekker disputed the win due to a seemingly irregular sprint by anton. but his protest was denied.