Image 1 of 17 Mattia Gavazzi (Androni Giocattoli) wins the Giro della Toscana (Image credit: Riccardo Scanferla) Image 2 of 17 Mattia Gavazzi receives the congratulations from teammate Emanuele Sella (Androni Venezuela) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 3 of 17 Gianni Savio with his winning rider Gavazzi and teammate Franco Pellizotti at the Giro di Toscana (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 4 of 17 Androni Venezuela are presented to the crowd at the Giro della Toscana (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 5 of 17 Some of the riders from Garmin Sharp were using the Italian one-day Giro della Toscana ahead of the Giro d'Italia (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 6 of 17 Taylor Phinney (BMC) rolling to the sign on (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 7 of 17 Stefano Garzelli and his Vini Fantini squad were at Toscana as final prep for the Giro d'Italia (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 8 of 17 Mattia Gavazzi (Androni Venezuela) gets the win ahead of Rovny and Phinney (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 9 of 17 Smiles all round after Mattia Gavazzi (Androni Venezuela) took out the Giro della Toscana (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 10 of 17 Gianni Savio gets up on stage after his rider's victory at Toscana (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 11 of 17 The Giro della Toscano podium: Taylor Phinney (BMC), Mattia Gavazzi (Androni) and Ivan Rovny (Flaminia Fondriest) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 12 of 17 Pellizotti and Sella celebrate moments after their teammate Gavazzi took the win (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 13 of 17 Sorry Emanuele but you didn't win this time but it surely felt like it after Gavazzi took out the Giro della Toscana (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 14 of 17 Taylor Phinney (BMC) finished in third place at Toscana (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 15 of 17 Phinney, Gavazzi and Rovny fill the top spots at the Giro della Toscana (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 16 of 17 Ivan Rovny on the podium in Toscana (Image credit: Riccardo Scanferla) Image 17 of 17 Second placed Ivan Rovny (Image credit: Riccardo Scanferla)

Mattia Gavazzi (Androni Venezuela) won the Giro della Toscana after he out-sprinted Ivan Rovny (Ceramica-Flaminia) and Taylor Phinney (BMC) in Arezzo. It was the Italian’s second victory of the 2013 campaign after he won the final stage of the Tour de San Luis in January.

The undulating race was run off at an average speed in excess of 42.5kph with nobody succeeding in breaking clear of the sizable front group on the finishing circuit and it all came down to a bunch finish.

Taylor Phinney opened his effort from distance after shutting down a late attack, but although he forced Gavazzi to open his sprint earlier than he had planned, the Androni-Venezuela man had enough in the tank to grab the win.

“Giairo Ermeti was my last man and his lead-out was anticipated so I was forced to go for a long sprint,” Gavazzi said. “But I’m feeling good and I’m hanging on well on the climbs too. At the Giro d’Italia, I want to win a stage and get to the finish in Brescia.”

For his part, Phinney was able to draw positives from his performances on the exacting course just one week shy of the Giro d’Italia. “I closed a bit of a gap to a guy who went early, with about 300 meters to go. I came around him with about 100 meters to go, but unfortunately, I didn't quite have enough gas to hold off Gavazzi and Rovny,” he said. “It's a really nice feeling to be back at the front of a race like that, though, especially since it was full gas all day, up and down."

Danilo Di Luca finished 6th in his second race with Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, for whom he signed last week after sitting out the early part of the season. Di Luca, who served a suspension for a positive test for CERA in 2009 is set to line up at the Giro d’Italia.