Ballan (right) and Hoste celebrate after the race

The pair broke clear on the Mur de Grammont climb 16km from the finish of the 259km course from Bruges to Flanders and managed to stay clear.

After a long sprint to the line, Ballan inched past his rival for his first major Classic win, with Italian Luca Paolini in third.

Pre-race favourite Tom Boonen crashed early on and was dropped by the pack.

Belgian Boonen had been attempting to become the first rider in over half a century to win the Tour of Flanders three times in a row.

"It was a very tight fight," said Ballan, who is the first Italian since Andrea Tafi in 2002 to win the race known as the 'Ronde'.

"I took a risk in the final kilometre because I paused to catch my breath and Hoste jumped hard. That's why I struggled to get on his wheel.

"Then I pulled out something I didn't have and just got past him on the line."

Result of theTour of Flanders UCI ProTour Classic

1. Alessandro Ballan, Italy, 6 hours, 10 minutes, 15 seconds.
2. Leif Hoste (Bel) same time
3. Luca Paolini (Ita) + 5 seconds
4. Karsten Kroon (Ned) same time
5. Vladimir Gusev (Rus) same time
6. Tomas Vaitkus (Lith) +13 seconds
7. Nick Nuyens (Bel) same time
8. Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) same time
9. Michael Boogerd (Ned) same time
10. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) +35 seconds.

Latest ProTour standings