Team Sky rider Viviani claims maiden Grand Tour stage win at Giro d'Italia

Italy's Elia Viviani claimed his maiden Grand Tour stage win at the Giro d'Italia ©Getty Images

Italy’s Elia Viviani of Team Sky claimed his first Grand Tour victory as he won the second stage of the Giro d’Italia from Albenga to Genoa today.

Viviani was involved in a dramatic finish at the end of the 177 kilometres stage as he ousted Dutchman Moreno Hofland of the LottoNL-Jumbo team by a mere half-a-wheel margin to in a tense finale to an excellent race.

Lotto-Soudal’s Andre Greipel of Germany, who led the charge to the finish line before eventually fading, was third, and Slovenia's Luka Mezgec, representing Giant-Alpecin, fourth.

Orica-GreenEdge’s Australian rider Michael Matthews now has the pink jersey following a seventh-place finish, overtaking teammate Simon Gerrans, who had claimed it following his team's victory yesterday.

The result marks a considered improvement for Team Sky after they endured a disappointing start to the Giro as they languished down in ninth after the opening day.

It also gave Viviani, who joined Team Sky from Cannondale in the off-season, a moment to cherish and he revelled in what he called an “incredible” personal win.

“This year with a new team I have found new motivation,” Viviani, who also secured the first red points jersey of the race, said.

“We’re here for the general classification with Richie Porte but today the guys managed to protect Richie but also they worked for me.

“Salvatore Puccio led me into the last corner brilliantly and I had enough for the sprint.”

The second stage at this year's Giro d'Italia involved a dramatic sprint finish which was won by Elia Viviani — The second stage at this year's Giro d'Italia involved a dramatic sprint finish won by Team Sky's Elia Viviani ©Getty Images

The largely flat stage was set up for a rapid finish from the start and the conditions were conducive for the top sprinters to come to the fore.

Greipel was the first to kick on but Dutchman Hofland was having none of it as he rode past the German and looked to be on course to seal a superb victory, before former track rider Viviani surged to the front and pipped the LottoNL cyclist to the line.

If today was a sprinter’s day, tomorrow is set to be different as the third stage involves the first tricky climbs of the Giro d’Italia.

The stage includes a category two climb and covers a distance of 136km, starting in Rapallo and ending in Sestri Levante.