Spain's Joaquin Rodriguez of Team Katusha managed to win stage 6 of the 2012 Tirreno-Adriatico spring stage race as a result of a powerful solo attack in the final kilometer of today's stage. Rodriguez crossed the finish line in Offida in lone fashion.

The Spaniard managed to hold off the chasers at the line, with Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas-Cannondale finishing second and Danilo Di Luca of Acqua & Sapone finishing third in the same time as Rodriguez.

Nibali collected a six-second time bonus for his second place finish. American Chris Horner of Team RadioShack-Nissan still leads overall before Tuesday's final and decisive 9.3 kilometer individual time trial. However the Czech Republic's Roman Kreuziger (Astana Pro Team) is only five seconds behind, with Nibali third overall, six seconds behind.

Commenting on today's stage Rodriguez told Roadcycling.com "We let Sagan work a lot because we knew he'd be the most dangerous. That was the key to success. Attacks like mine today don't often work and if the stage had been 200 meters longer, I don't know if I'd have made it to the finish before the other riders. I was a bit demoralised because I thought I'd be up there in Chieti (on stage 4) but I wasn't. So I was a bit surprised to win."

When asked who Rodriguez expects will be a strong factor in the 2012 Milan-San Remo race this coming Saturday, Rodriguez said "My teammate Oscar Freire is focused and very strong. He hasn't taken any risks here. I think everyone saw how good Sagan is, he even proved he's a climber. He's one to watch but we don't know how good he is in a sprint after 300 kilometer. We know Oscar is good. It's going to be a great Milano-San Remo." Watch video highlights from the 2012 Milano-San Remo in our video section when the race is finished this coming Saturday (USA-access only).

Race-leader Horner is satisfied with his tactics and strategy so far and is optimistic about his chances of defending his overall race lead in tomorrow's decisive individual time trial along the cost.

"I made no mistakes. The tactics were dictated by the race. Kreuziger is the big threat I believe and we'll see tomorrow if I'm correct. For me the important thing was to keep the jersey. I think the race has been perfect."

"Today Peter Sagan was phenomenal on the last climb and up to finish. If Nibali wins, he owes Sagan a car or something."

Horner is very happy to be back on form after a promising, but in the end disappointing 2011 season.

"Due to my embolism I had to watch the Tour de France, the Tour of Colorado, the Vuelta and Lombardy from the couch. I saw a lot of good results disappear, so it's very nice to be back. We had Cancellara and the classics riders for the team time trial and so I knew we'd go well here. That's why I chose to ride Tirreno-Adriatico instead of the Paris-Nice."

Watch video highlights from every stage of the 2012 Tirreno-Adriatico in our video section.