Thomas triumphs at Bayern-Rundfahrt

Image 1 of 5

Giacomo Nizzolo of Leopard Trek won the final stage of the Tour of Bavaria, and Geraint Thomas (Sky) successfully defended his overall lead. Nizzolo outsprinted John Degenkolb of HTC-Highroad and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) in the closing stage's mass sprint.

Thomas held on to the overall lead which he had claimed the previous day It was not only the first season win for the 25-year-old, but also his first stage race title. Second place went to Nicki Sörensen of Saxo Bank-SunGard and third to HTC-Highroad's Michael Albasini.

Thomas was thrilled with his overall victory.  “It was a great end to the week - we've been on the podium every day as well so it's a great race for us,” he said on the team's website.

It was also the first season and professional win for first-year pro Nizzolo. The Leopard Trek Italian has had a series of top five finishes thus far this year, including second place at the ProRace Berlin a week ago.

Nizzolo had some very high-powered help with his sprint build-up, from none other than Fabian Cancellara, who “did a fantastic job in the last few kilometers,” Nizzolo said on the team's website.   “Cancellara brought me on Boasson Hagen's wheel 400 meters from the line. There was a curve 200 meters before the finish, and I attacked there. It was a very fast, slightly uphill sprint. I could feel Degenkolb on my wheel, but I did not allow him to overtake me."

The stage was marked by the long breakaway of Saxo Bank-SunGard's Jaroslaw Marycz. The Pole escaped early and built up a lead of up to four minutes. Team Sky led the chase, though, and he was caught with only six kilometres remaining.