Great Britain's bronze medallist in the Atlanta Olympic Road Race outsprinted an elite lead group including great champions such as Paolo Bettini and World No.1 Francesco Casagrande.

The race's "HC" (beyond category) ranking means that only the monuments of Milan - San Remo and the Tour of Lombardy carry more weight in the entire Italian one-day calendar. The win will lift Max's bid to become the Linda McCartney team's second Olympic Champion in two weeks in Sydney, and ranks alongside David McKenzie's Tour of Italy stage win as the team's finest result in this jewel of a season.

Report by John Deering

 
 1. Max Sciandri                   4.53.12 
 2. S Barbero (Lampre-Daikin)     @   0.00
 3. M Celestino (Polti)
 4. F Casagrande (Vini Caldirola)
 5. S Lelekine