Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) kicked off his 2014 season in the same way as he ended 2013 whe he won the second stage of the Tour Down Under. Despite being happy to have beaten what he thought was an unbeatable Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE), he was left with a bitter taste after his teammate Rafael Valls had crashed out of the race with a fracture.

At the end of the 2013, Diego Ulissi appeared to be almost unbeatable when he won the Milan-Turin, Coppa Sabatini and Giro dell'Emilia. On all occasions, the wins were taken by unleashing his powerful uphill sprint and today he proved that the wins were no fluke when he again won a hard sprint on the second stage of the Tour Down Under.

When he arrived in Adelaide, Ulissi had been cautious about his possibilities of ending high on GC this early in the season but after finishing 4th yesterday, he was more optimistic, indicating that he would be looking at the overall standings. He asked his team to position him well for today's uphill finish that suited him down to the ground and when he was brought into position by his teammate Luca Wackermann, he decided to make an early move.

His kick took pre-race favourite and overall leader Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) by surprise and despite finishing the stage very fast, the Australian champion had not enough time to come back. Ulissi admitted to be surprised that he was able to beat an in-form Gerrans at this early time of the season.

"I’ve never believed in my chances to win this stage because I had the impression that Simon Gerrans was by far the strongest," he said. "I thought he’d be unbeatable but I managed to beat him thanks to the help of the great team I have behind me.

"It has a lot to do with the serenity I found by winning a few races at the very end of last season, therefore I could train for this one with no worries and prepare well for Milan-San Remo."

Unfortunately, Ulissi was also left with a bitter taste in his mouth. His teammate Rafael Valls Ferri who had joined Lampre-Merida for the 2014 season, had appeared to be in splendid condition on the opening stage but was involved in a crash near the end. X-rays later confirmed a fracture and instead of starting tomorrow's stage, he will undergo surgery in Adelaide as soon as possible.

Ulissi dedicated his win to his fallen teammate.

"I'm thrilled. It is a joy that I want to share with the whole team and the sponsors and I want to dedicate it to my teammate Valls who was unfortunately injured in a crash," he said. "We rode really well. We managed to enter the final kilometre in a great position and then I decided to anticipate the sprint. It worked.

"The satisfaction is so great because the riders from Australia can already count on being in excellent shape."

Ulissi is in Australia for the first time and may now realistically hope for a possible win in the Tour Down Under. He has enjoyed the race so far.

"This is my first time in Australia and I’m amazed by the incredible affection of the fans," said Ulissi. "The environment of this race is wonderful."

Ulissi will get another chance to go for glory in tomorrow's stage which sends the riders up the brutal Corkscrew climb just 7,4km from the finish. If Ulissi can keep up with the best on the climb, his fast sprint could allow him to add another win to his palmares.

Ulissi is now 2nd on GC, 7 seconds behind Gerrans. His team also leads the teams classification.