Wout Poels rode to a strong fifth place at Milano-Torino following an intense hill-top battle for victory.

On his 28th birthday the Dutchman forced his way into an elite selection of contenders as they tackled two closing ascents of the Superga climb.

With Sergio Henao also representing Team Sky in the group, Poels jumped clear on a steep section with 2.3 kilometres to go in a bid to chase down a stinging attack from Diego Rosa. Poels was eventually hauled back, with the elite group clearly on the rivet in the closing stages. After timing his move to perfection Rosa (Astana) stayed clear to win by 16 seconds over Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo), with Vuelta a Espana victor Fabio Aru (Astana) claiming third in Turin.

Poels crossed the line fifth, 23 seconds back, while Henao hung on for a place just outside the top 10 in 16th. After a five-man breakaway had been overhauled Team Sky made their presence felt with 30km to go, hitting the front and setting the pace onto the first ascent of Superga.

After Ian Boswell and newly-crowned time trial world champion Vasil Kiryienka had upped the pace, Leopold Konig looked to take the group by surprise with an attack with 22km to go. Astana were quick to shut the move down, and the peloton found itself significantly reduced as a result. Following a rapid descent the final climb delivered the key move with Rosa driving home his advantage on local roads.

The race saw Richie Porte back in action for the first time since the Tour de France as the Tasmanian tackled one of his final events for Team Sky.

After the stage Sports Director Gabriel Rasch talked the Team Sky website through the finale and also looked ahead to Friday's Gran Piemonte.

"It was not so difficult today tactics-wise," explained the Norwegian. "Boswell and Kiry did a super job taking the guys into the climb at a good pace. It looked good with Wout and Sergio up there in the front group but it came down to legs at the end and they were just a little bit short.

"When Wout attacked after Rosa went it looked pretty good but he just lacked that little bit to get across. But all in all it was a good day and the guys rode well together.

"Tomorrow it's a different challenge. Typically there is a big breakaway and when that happens they tend to make it to the finish. We just need to be really on it from the start and make sure we have some guys in there."