Andre Greipel had the legs to triumph in a bunch sprint in the second stage of the Giro d'Italia and take the pink jersey.

Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) won on his Grand Tour bow on Friday's opening stage, but he could not repeat the feat on the 208-kilometre medium mountain stage from Olbia to Tortoli.

Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data), Lukasz Owsian (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Ilia Koshevoy (Wilier Triestina), Evgeny Shalunov (Gazprom - Rusvelo), Simone Andreetta (Bardiani CSF) formed the breakaway, which was finally caught after the second categorised climb with 46km to go.

Bahrain–Merida did much of the heavy lifting at the front from that point, but in the final kilometre it was Greipel who took centre stage to claim the seventh Giro stage win of his career.

Orica-Scott's Caleb Ewan looked in position to take the Maglia Rosa, but a mechanical failure in the sprint ended his hopes.

That allowed Greipel to showcase his power and surge to the line and add to his glittering resume of Grand Tour wins.

GOOD DAY/BAD DAY

Dimension Data set up Teklehaimanot to go for the King of the Mountains points and succeeded, as he became the first Eritrean to hold the blue jersey, after reaching the summit of the second categorised climb first.

But few riders will be in a worse mood than Ewan after his bike let him down at the key moment in the final run to the line.

STAGE RESULTS

1. Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal): 6:05:18
2. Roberto Ferrari (UAE Team Emirates): +0:00:00
3. Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo): +0:00:00
4. Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors): +0:00:00
5. Kristian Sbaragli (Dimension Data): +0:00:00

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal): 11:18:39
2. Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe): +0:00:04
3. Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott): +0:00:08

POINTS CLASSIFICATION

1. Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal): 75pts
2. Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data): 72pts
3. Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe): 51pts

KING OF THE MOUNTAINS

1. Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data): 20pts
2. Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe): 9pts
3. Omar Fraile (Dimension Data): 8pts

UP NEXT...

Fans of climbs may want to avoid Sunday's stage, with the 148km route from Tortoli to Cagliari almost completely flat with a few gentle undulations.