Chaves delivers with Tour of Lombardy win

Pre-race favourite Chaves, who finished third overall in the Vuelta last month, outsprinted Italian Diego Rosa (Astana) and fellow Colombian Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac).

Frenchman Romain Bardet (AG2r-La Mondiale), who was part of the leading four in the final stages of the 240-km ride between Como and Bergamo, was dropped in the final kilometre and took fourth place.

Rosa repeatedly attacked on the final ascent, a 1.7-km effort at an average gradient of 7.9 percent, but Chaves hung on and stayed quiet, saving his energy for the final sprint.

Chaves (Orica-Bike Exchange) is the first Colombian rider to win a 'Monument' classic -- Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege or the Tour of Lombardy.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Clare Fallon)