The Astana rider followed in the wheel of defending champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) who attacked early on the famous Cauberg climb but was unable to maintain his effort.

That allowed Gasparotto to edge past and hold off Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol) and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) on the line in Valkenberg.

The favourites were forced to push in a bid to shut down Katusha rider Oscar Freire who had launched a solo attack on the flat with eight kilometres to go.

The final climb saw plenty of action as Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) checked up and veered into Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Team Sky), both men hitting the deck whilst in the top five places.

Five testing climbs on the run for home had seen the peloton stretched to its limits with numerous attacks as riders looked to pull clear ahead of the most famous climb in Holland.

Dutch Classic

The riders rolled out of a chilly Maastricht ahead of a day which featured no less than 31 climbs on a parcours which will be heavily used in the World Championships in September.

With the first of the ‘bergs’ in the books a breakaway attempt finally stuck with five riders joined by a further quartet to make a lead group of nine.

Heading over the Cauberg for the first time their advantage snuck up to 13 minutes, the signal for Katusha and RadioShack-Nissan to hit the front and keep tabs on the leaders.

Team Sky arrived towards the sharp end as the peloton hit the Gulperberg for the first time, the gap to the break dropping rapidly as the pace was ramped up in the bunch.

The leaders still had 4:38 as the riders made their way over the Cauberg for the penultimate time, yet it wasn’t until the approach to the Loorberg when the peloton really began to stretch.

Youngsters Alex Howes (Garmin-Barracuda) and Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) were the final riders to be caught from the break in the closing stages as attacks jumped off the front behind, Edvald Boasson Hagen one of the first to try something for Team Sky.

The peloton thinned out significantly on the approach back into Valkenberg and it would be Gasparotto who ended the day as the toast of the town.