With only 110km on the cards for the peleton in stage 7 it would have looked like an easy stage, and it probably was until the 17km climb to the finish at Santuario Di Montevergine.
The big names and favourites kept a close eye on each other through the stage and the final climb but it was Michele Scarponi (scarfacedpony) who missed out on the win by a narrow margin. Bart De Clercq from Omega Pharma Lotto took out the line honours with a well time brea 8km before the summit. At 2km to go De Clercq managed to get to 1:05mins clear of the chasers before the big fellas Scarfacedpony, Kreuziger, Garzelli and Nibali dropped the hammer and shredded the time gap. De Clarq held onto to win by a wheel but very nearly blew it!
Great photos can be found at HERE courtesy of www.steephill.tv
STAGE 7 RESULTS
| 1 | Bart De Clercq (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 2:54:47 | |
| 2 | Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD | ||
| 3 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana | ||
| 4 | Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | ||
| 5 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | ||
| 6 | Joaquím Rodríguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team | ||
| 7 | José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Androni Giocattoli | ||
| 8 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team | ||
| 9 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard | ||
| 10 | Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Team Garmin-Cervelo |
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 7
| 1 | Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | 23:09:59 | |
| 2 | Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) HTC-Highroad | 0:00:02 | |
| 3 | Marco Pinotti (Ita) HTC-Highroad | ||
| 4 | Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Team Garmin-Cervelo | 0:00:05 | |
| 5 | Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD | 0:00:14 | |
| 6 | Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:22 | |
| 7 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:24 | |
| 8 | Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:00:28 | |
| 9 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:00:30 | |
| 10 | Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Androni Giocattoli | 0:00:33 | |
| 11 | Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Sky Procycling | 0:00:39 | |
| 12 | David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:40 | |
| 13 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team | 0:00:44 | |
| 14 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana | ||
| 15 | Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Pro Team Astana | 0:00:52 | |
| 16 | Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC | 0:00:55 | |
| 17 | Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:58 | |
| 18 | Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Pro Team Astana | 0:00:59 | |
| 19 | Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | 0:01:01 | |
| 20 | Joaquím Rodríguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team | 0:01:06 |
KOM
| 1 | Bart De Clercq (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 11 | pts |
| 2 | Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 10 | |
| 3 | Federico Canuti (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox | 9 | |
| 4 | Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox | 8 | |
| 5 | Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD | 7 | |
| 6 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana | 6 | |
| 7 | Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Team Garmin-Cervelo | 5 | |
| 8 | Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team | 5 | |
| 9 | Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | 3 | |
| 10 | Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Farnese Vini – Neri Sottoli | 3 |
POINTS
| 1 | Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre – ISD | 48 | pts |
| 2 | Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Team Garmin-Cervelo | 41 | |
| 3 | Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD | 38 | |
| 4 | Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | 30 | |
| 5 | Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Androni Giocattoli | 28 | |
| 6 | Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team | 27 | |
| 7 | Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | 25 | |
| 8 | Bart De Clercq (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 25 | |
| 9 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 22 | |
| 10 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana | 22 |
SPRINT
| 1 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 7 | pts |
| 2 | Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | 5 | |
| 3 | Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 5 | |
| 4 | Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team | 5 | |
| 5 | Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 5 | |
| 6 | Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Saxo Bank Sungard | 5 | |
| 7 | Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre – ISD | 4 | |
| 8 | Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Farnese Vini – Neri Sottoli | 4 | |
| 9 | Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 4 | |
| 10 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard | 3 |
TEAMS
| 1 | Movistar Team | 68:49:01 | |
| 2 | Pro Team Astana | 0:00:01 | |
| 3 | Geox-TMC | 0:01:06 | |
| 4 | Androni Giocattoli | 0:01:21 | |
| 5 | Sky Procycling | 0:02:32 | |
| 6 | Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:03:27 | |
| 7 | AG2R La Mondiale | 0:03:58 | |
| 8 | Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:04:06 | |
| 9 | Katusha Team | 0:06:26 | |
| 10 | Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:07:02 | |
| 11 | Acqua & Sapone | 0:07:22 | |
| 12 | Lampre – ISD | 0:07:23 | |
| 13 | Colnago – CSF Inox | 0:09:45 | |
| 14 | Team Garmin-Cervelo | 0:09:55 | |
| 15 | HTC-Highroad | 0:09:56 | |
| 16 | Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:12:20 | |
| 17 | Quickstep Cycling Team | 0:13:10 | |
| 18 | Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:16:48 | |
| 19 | Team RadioShack | 0:23:22 | |
| 20 | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:26:15 | |
| 21 | BMC Racing Team | 0:32:14 | |
| 22 | Farnese Vini – Neri Sottoli | 0:37:30 |
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