Saturday 5 May 2018 17:21, UK
Italy's Elia Viviani produced a late stunning sprint to win a thrilling Giro d'Italia second stage in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
The Quick-Step Floors rider overcame a big gap and hit the front with 100m left to beat compatriot Jakub Mareczko after the 167km stage from Haifa.
Australian Rohan Dennis, of BMC Racing, took the race leader's pink jersey off reigning champion Tom Dumoulin.
Dennis secured three bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint earlier to overcome his two-second deficit from the opening time-trial in Jerusalem.
Race favourite Chris Froome finished safely in the peloton after a bunch sprint in the Mediterranean coastal resort.
The 32-year-old Briton was nursing cuts and abrasions to his right-hand side, suffered in a training crash in Jerusalem on Friday.
He had surprisingly lost 37 seconds to Dutchman Dumoulin - his chief rival for overall victory - in the race against the clock, later admitting he had been riding in pain.
On Saturday, Olympic omnium champion Viviani, 29, seemed to have left his charge to the line quite late but burst through to emerge from the back wheel of Irishman Sam Bennett and surge to victory.
"The win, everyone was expecting but doing it is never easy," Viviani said.
"I was really nervous this morning, I tried to overcome a bit this emotion but it's not easy."
Dennis added: "It was good to see Viviani get the stage win after not giving it to me, but he was kind, let's be honest!"
Dennis has now worn the leader's jersey at all three Grand Tours, following opening stage success at the Tour de France in 2015 and last year's Vuelta a Espana.
