Tour of Flanders victor Alessandro Ballan claims his second ProTour win of the year with a triumph at the Vattenfall-Cyclassics in Hamburg as last year's winner Oscar Freire finished second.

The Italian broke away from the lead-bunch with 500 metres left to ride and held off Spain's Freire and Germany's Gerald Ciolek in the final gasp to triumph.

Ciolek, who had just come off of winning three sprint stages at the Tour of Germany, put on a late charge but was unable to catch the Lampre sprinter Ballan or the three-time world champion Freire.

A trio of Luke Roberts, Floris Goesinnen and Gerben Löwik broke away 12 kilometres into the race, as about a half-dozen riders were involved in an early crash that saw Euskaltel's Gorka Verdugo abandon with a likely broken collar bone.

Former world champion Tom Boonen saw his chances ended in another crash on the ascent of the day's final climb, the Waseberg.

By the end of the climb the 200-km break-away had been caught with Fabian Wegmann and 2004 winner Filippo Pozzato going over the top first.

Looking to earn Ciolek a fourth straight sprint win, T-Mobile led the front-group after a brief failed attack on the descent of the Waseberg.

Two kilometres from the finish star Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd was taken out in a crash, thinning out the field further.

The surprise attack by Ballan with half a kilometre left to race allowed him to claim victory in front of a star-studded cast including Danilo Napolitano, Erik Zabel, Davide Rebellin and world champion Paolo Bettini, who finished in that order behind third-placed Ciolek.

Ballan adds victory in the 12th edition of Cyclassics to a brilliant season that included a classic win in the Ronde and a stage win in the Three Days of De Panne.

Jeremy Stahl / Eurosport