Peter Kennaugh is usually the reliable domestique at Team Sky but today he was the clear leader whent the British team tackled the queen stage of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali. The Brit paid back his teammates by taking a beautiful stage win and set himself of for the overall victory in the process.

Pete Kennaugh continued Team Sky’s huge run of momentum at Settimana Coppi e Bartali with victory on stage two.

The Manxman attacked heading over the final climb and saw off the attentions of Manuel Bongiorno at the finish in Sogliano al Rubicone to move into a 42-second race lead.

The win marked the team’s third stage success in a row in Italy after taking both the opening sprint through Ben Swift and the afternoon team time trial on Thursday.

A tough climbing day saw Swift battle hard but relinquish the lead, yet it was Kennaugh who took up the mantle in style, making his way into an elite group the penultimate time over the day’s featured climb - the Ville di Monte Tiffi.

Heading into the finish with Bongiorno the pair continued to attack one another but Kennaugh timed his efforts to perfection to take home his first solo professional victory by two seconds.

Dario Cataldo finished prominently in the chasing pack, crossing the line fourth place to increase the team’s presence at the top of the general classification. The Italian sits third overall, one minute behind his team-mate.

After the dust had settled on another successful day Kennaugh talked about the finish and work of his team-mates on a tough circuit.

“It’s was just nice to finish it off," he told TeamSky.com. "When everyone rides the way they do and it’s down to you to go for it at the end to get the win, it’s not so much a relief, but more a nice feeling to get my first win. It was a nice stage as well and it was good to finish it off for the boys.

"Bongiorno’s team were riding really hard on the climb each lap. We sat behind them with the boys and we took it up with two to go. (Ian) Boswell did a really good job and then Sebastian and Cataldo. Sebastian really set the tone for the final. On the penultimate lap he thinned it out from maybe 40 or 50 guys to about 10. Cataldo took me half-way up the final time and that’s when I made my move.

"The pace was already that high that when I went I didn’t feel great as I was already quite close to my limit. When Bongiorno came across he attacked me but I just rode within myself and caught him on the descent."

Kennaugh now holds a 42-second lead heading into the weekend but is well aware there is still a long way to go.

“Tomorrow is a sprint stage so hopefully we can stay out of trouble there. Obviously anything can happen. Then the time trial is 9km and it has a slightly uphill finish which should suit me. There’s still a long way to go and I’ll give it everything.”

Sports Director Dan Frost was again overjoyed at the continued success of the team, and revealed that the stage and late attack had gone just to plan.

“We had agreed that we would work for Pete to attack on the last climb,” he explained. “Sebastian did a really good job of attacking the penultimate time over and making a selection. Cataldo was also there on the last part.

“Before that we had the whole team leading the race and staying on top of everything. Pete went as planned and Bongiorno went with him. He actually attacked Pete over the top but he was able to catch him on the descent. Pete played it smart and in our opinion he was also the strongest on the run-in.

“It’s great to see him get the win. It’s also his first win as a pro not in a team time trial. So that’s a really nice moment. What’s more we were able to get Cataldo home in fourth place which hopefully should give us two guys right up there for there for the final time trial.

“Ben rode well until he had to leave the group. He really fought for the jersey which was good to see. He could get another chance tomorrow if the race ends in a sprint.”