How often does the gaggle of race favorites close in on a rider in the final meters of a race to rob a lone attacker of honor, glory and victory? Too often. On Stage 7 of the Giro, just days after the Wouter Weylandts tragedy, cycling tried to recover by putting on one of the most spectacular stages of the year. As seen in the video below, Johnny Hoogerland’s birthday adventure started off the action. He bridged a massive gap and kept attacking from the lead group throughout the afternoon. When the race finally hit the short climb to the line, the peloton had swallowed up the leaders, and Bart de Clercq went off on a solo attack with just kilometers to go. The big guns, including Michele Scarponi and Alberto Contador, ramped up the pace and left most of the peloton gasping up the climb behind them. They caught de Clercq on the line, but who got there first? You be the judge.