By Shane Stokes in Frascati
Ignatiev went clear early on with Frenchman Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis) and then pressed on ahead alone, whipping the pedals around in his distinctive flat-back trackie style. After he was recaptured with 18 kilometres to go, team-mates Salvatore Commesso and Elia Aggiano each tried solo moves.
"The team was very motivated today, but it's the same every day," Ignatiev said in a mixture of English and Italian after the finish. "We have been in breakaways each day and apart from that, we have Evgeni Petrov and Ricardo Serrano for the general classification.
"I am in good shape after doing the world track cycling championships. I knew it would be hard to win today but I think the second and third week of the race will be better for me. I will keep trying."