After several failed breakaway attempts earlier in the 2011 Giro d'Italia, David Millar delivered a stage victory for US-based Garmin-Cervelo by winning the individual time trial in Milan on Sunday.
The British cyclist earned the overall leader's maglia rosa in Stages 3 and 4 earlier in the three-week race.
Other than the fight for a stage victory, Italian cyclists Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre) provided the only fireworks in their battle for second place overall.
Maglia rosa
With Spain's Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) firmly in control for the overall lead and his second Giro championship, the other podium positions remained the only question mark.
Although Nibali is considered the better time trial cyclist, Scarponi had a 56-second advantage going into the final stage. Instead of riding defensively on many of the Giro's mountain stages, Nibali had gone on the attack, perhaps depleting himself physically against stronger climbers like Contador and Scarponi.
Nibali lost some time against Scarponi in Saturday's stage. Then on Sunday, race officials shortened the course to 26km from 31.5km, which gave Nibali less distance to catch Scarponi.
In the end, Nibali only finished 10 seconds faster than Scarponi. So Scarponi wins second place and Nibali takes third for the second year in a row.
Biggest margin
Meanwhile, Contador's victory margin is his largest ever in 2 Giro wins, 1 Vuelta a'Espana and 3 Tours de France.
Stefano Garzelli (Acqua and Sapone) won the mountains jersey and Contador won the points jersey.
Top 5 overall
1. Alberto Conador (Saxo Bank)
2. Michele Scarponi (Lampre) – 6:10
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) – 6:56
4. John Gadret (AG2R) – 10:04
5. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) – 11:05
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