German Andre Greipel took his seventh win on the Giro d'Italia when he claimed the second stage in a bunch sprint finish on Saturday.
The Lotto Soudal rider passed Australian Caleb Ewan, whose chances were ruined when his left shoe came off its clip, and never looked back as he also snatched the overall leader's pink jersey.
Italian Roberto Ferrari (UAE Team Emirates) took second place ahead of Belgian Jasper Stuyven (Trek Segafredo) at the end of an undulating, 221-km stage between Olbia and Tortoli in Sardinia.
Ireland's Sam Bennett took 10th in yesterday's opening stage for the Bora-Hansgrohe team but was back in 193rd, third last in Tortoli. Philip Deignan finished in 138th for Team Sky.
"There was no trouble with Caleb's bike. He collided with another rider and it caused the incident and ruined his sprint," said Ewan's sports director at Orica-Scott, Matt White.
"It was not an easy day, six hours on the bike. I owe it to my team mates who worked hard all day," said Greipel, who is leading a grand tour for the first time in his career.
Eritrean Daniel Teklehaimanot will wear the blue jersey for the best climber as he gained decisive points on the final ascent after spending the day in the breakaway.
Giro d'Italia Stage 2 result: 1 Andre Greipel (Germany / Lotto)11:18:39" 2 Lukas Poestlberger (Austria / BORA) +4" 3 Caleb Ewan (Australia / Orica) +8" 4 Roberto Ferrari (Italy / UAE Team Emirates) 5 Jasper Stuyven (Belgium / Trek) +10" 6 Pavel Brutt (Russia / Gazprom) +12" 7 Kristian Sbaragli (Italy / Dimension Data) +14" 8 Ryan Gibbons (South Africa / Dimension Data) 9 Fernando Gaviria (Colombia / Quick-Step) 10 Enrico Battaglin (Italy / LottoNL)
Giro d'Italia general classification: 1 Andre Greipel (Germany / Lotto)11:18:39" 2 Lukas Poestlberger (Austria / BORA) +4" 3 Caleb Ewan (Australia / Orica) +8" 4 Roberto Ferrari (Italy / UAE Team Emirates) 5 Jasper Stuyven (Belgium / Trek) +10" 6 Pavel Brutt (Russia / Gazprom) +12" 7 Kristian Sbaragli (Italy / Dimension Data) +14" 8 Ryan Gibbons (South Africa / Dimension Data) 9 Fernando Gaviria (Colombia / Quick-Step) 10 Enrico Battaglin (Italy / LottoNL)
136 Philip Deignan (Irl/ Team Sky) +2' 46" 188 Sam Bennett (Irl / Bora-Hansgroghe) + 13' 3".
Giro d'Italia Stage 2 points classification: 1 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eritrea / Dimension Data) 52 2 Andre Greipel (Germany / Lotto) 50 3 Lukas Poestlberger (Austria / BORA) 50 4 Caleb Ewan (Australia / Orica) 37 5 Eugert Zhupa (Albania / Wilier Triestina) 28 6 Kristian Sbaragli (Italy / Dimension Data) 24 7 Jasper Stuyven (Belgium / Trek) 22 8 Roberto Ferrari (Italy / UAE Team Emirates)18 9 Pavel Brutt (Russia / Gazprom) 18 10 Giacomo Nizzolo (Italy / Trek) 18
Giro d'Italia team classification: 1 Orica (Australia) 33:56:39" 2 BORA (Germany) ST 3 UAE Team Emirates (United Arab Emirates) 4 Trek (United States) 5 Quick-Step (Belgium) 6 Dimension Data (South Africa) 7 Team Sky (Britain) 8 Sunweb (Germany) 9 Bahrain (Bahrain) 10 Movistar (Spain)
