With a daring solo attack delivered to perfection, Vincenzo Nibali won the Milan-San Remo classic on Saturday after holding off the sprint specialists over 291 kilometres.

With seven kilometers to go, Nibali accelerated away from the pack on the final climb of the 294-kilometer (183-mile) race. Using his outstanding descending skills, the Italian opened up a 13-second gap that proved enough to win by a bike length and secure the first of five top one-day races - Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Pris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne Liege and Tour of Lombardy.

The Italian had time to raise his arms in celebration before crossing the line in a time of 7 hours, 18 minutes, 43 seconds, becoming the first Italian to win the race since 2006.

Caleb Ewan of Australia crossed second and Arnaud Demare of France finished third, both with the same time as Nibali.

jh/mds (AP, Reuters)