CSC's powerhouse Fabian Cancellara won Saturday's new Italian one-day, the Monte Paschi Eroica.

The long-time amateur race, which includes miles of gravel roads, was held for the first time as a professional race last fall.

The first pro edition also was won by a CSC rider, Alexandr Kolobnev.

”It was a great victory for both me and the team, because there's no doubt that this is a very unique race, "Cancellara said. "I wasn't feeling all that great to begin with, but once the sprint opened up my legs were cooperating just fine. In the finale I was able to make a difference, which tells me that I'm on the right track ahead of the classics.”

Cancellara broke from the favorite's group shortly before the last graveled stretch with Lampre's Alessandro Ballan.

"Everything turned out perfectly for us today," said team director Lars Michaelsen after the race.

"We had Anders Lund and Matti Breschel in the long break and they both delivered a great effort out there. Fabian showed tremendous strength at the end and won a brilliant victory. It's a really tough race and it definitely has the potential to become one of cycling sport's all-time greats. It was a good sign for us to have one of our biggest classics profiles at the top of the podium.”