Intro:

Michael Rogers took advantage of a downhill attack to win the 11th stage of the Giro d'Italia on Wednesday, while fellow Australian Cadel Evans retained the overall lead.

Script:

BMC Racing's Cadel Evans was still in the pink on Wednesday for stage 11 of the Giro d'Italia.

Evans started the day with a 57 second lead over second place Rigoberto Uran, before the riders took on a 249-kilometre (154-mile) journey from Collecchio to Savona.

Before Wednesday's stage, Australian sprinter Michael Matthews withdrew citing back trouble. Matthews wore the leader's Maglia Rose jersey for six stages and also won the sixth leg.

It was Michael Rogers of team Tinkoff-Saxo who took advantage of a downhill attack to win the stage.

The 34-year-old, who was recently cleared of a doping charge, attacked with more than 20 kilometres (12 miles) to go just after the pack got over a category 2 climb.

The three-time world time trial champion from 2003-05 won in a time of 5 hours, 48 minutes and 7 seconds.

Simon Geschke of Germany won the bunch sprint for second, crossing the line 10 seconds after Rogers, and Enrico Battaglin of Italy finished third with the same time.

Evans' 57-second lead over Uran remains unchanged as the tour heads into Thursday's 42-kilometer (26-mile) individual time trial from Barbaresco to Barolo.