Former World Champion Cadel Evans won the penultimate stage of the weeklong 2011 Tirreno-Adriatico race Monday to increase his overall lead. Watch Cadel Evans win today's stage in our Roadcycling.com videos section (US-located readers only).

The Australian Team BMC Racing rider clocked 4 hours, 37 hours, 58 seconds over the 182-kilometer (114-mile) hilly 6th stage from Ussita to Macerata, beating Italian riders Giovanni Visconti (Team Farnese Vini) and Michele Scarponi (Team Lampre) in a sprint finish.

Scarponi attacked on a steep uphill section shortly before the finish, but Evans and Nibali caught him when the road flattened out some in the final meters. Evans looked incredibly strong and even scarier than during last year's season. The other riders had no chance of passing Evans in the final meters. Where their power diminished, Evans' power surged.

"Yesterday was one thing to take the (leader's) jersey, but to win a stage in the jersey makes me really, really happy," 2009 World Champion Cadel Evans told Roadcycling.com and Roadcycling.mobi after the finish.

"I anticipated the moves my opponents made and it worked out well for me," Evans added after being celebrated on the podium and added "We also had a stage finish here last year and I learned a thing or two ... It was a very tough stage today with narrow and bumpy roads and I'm very happy to finish off the work of my team."

"The whole team was fantastic and Alessandro (Ballan) and George (Hincapie) were really, really exceptional today," Evans added and humbly continued "Thanks to them putting me in the right position, I just had to finish it up in the last kilometer."

In the overall standings, Evans holds a nine-second lead ahead of Scarponi, with Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso 12 seconds back in third.

The coast-to-coast 2011 Tirreno-Adriatico race ends Tuesday with a 9.3-kilometer (5.8-mile) individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.

"It's a time trial for specialists - straight and flat," Scarponi commented and continued "It favors Evans, Nibali and Basso."

"My main thing - and the first plan today - was not to lose any seconds," Evans commented and about the time trial tomorrow he said "Of course, if there was any opportunity to gain seconds, that's always an advantage going into tomorrow. We're still riding only a 10-kilometer time trial but it's always a bigger advantage than a lesser advantage."

"The stage was very rough and Matteo (Tosatto) was in at the front of the race for a long time but on the first lap of the climb, he had a flat tire. JJ (Haedo) was there to give him a new wheel and Matteo did everything he could to fight his way back, he wasn't able to catch up with the front. Gustav Larsson is looking better and better after being sick and I hope he's to in the top of the rankings on tomorrow's time trial," Team Saxo Bank-SunGard sports director Tristan Hoffman told Roadcycling.com.

Many riders are using Tirreno-Adriatico 2011 as a warmup for Saturday's 2011 Milano-San Remo classic, the opening single-day classic of the season. Watch 2011 Milano-San Remo video highlights here on Roadcycling.com starting after the race this coming Saturday.

Watch video highlights from the 2011 Tirreno-Adriatico in the videos section here on Roadcycling.com after each day's stage.

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