Elia Viviani claimed a superb victory on stage two at the Giro d'Italia after timing his sprint to perfection in Genoa.

The Italian secured his first Grand Tour stage victory in his home race, leaving his final acceleration until late on the slightly uphill finish to out-drag Moreno Hofland at the finish.

Also pulling on the red points jersey after the win, Viviani didn't panic as Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) opened up his sprint early in the closing metres. Instead opting to lock onto the wheel of Hofland (LottoNL-Jumbo), the Team Sky rider was able to edge out victory after lead-out work from both Bernhard Eisel and Salvatore Puccio in the final kilometres.

The day also went well for team leader Richie Porte, who was protected throughout the 177km test and remained towards the head of the peloton, avoiding a number of late crashes which held up some of his rivals.

"It's incredible," said a visibly thrilled Viviani after a stage which saw him achieve his dream.

"This year I'm with a new team and with a new motivation. We are here to do a good GC with Richie and to win the Giro with him. That means I don't have as many guys for the final, but as you saw today the guys did a perfect job for Richie and also for me. In the last 3km Salvatore Puccio and Bernie (Eisel) were there for me. They did incredible work.

"I saw Hofland win last week in Yorkshire and today when I saw him sprint I thought he would be a good guy to follow. Greipel started the sprint from a long way, but I knew the road went up and I waited for the right moment to start my sprint. I'm really, really happy.

"In recent years I've come close, but I've always fallen short of taking a major win. This victory is my best result since I turned pro. It has taken time to achieve, but I've always believed in myself, I've never given up, and I think I've done it in the best way today. I've always come back to the Giro d'Italia to try for a stage win, and today, after my good start to the season, I have done it.

"You need legs for a sprint like that, but also cold blood. I've learned to be colder: I've learned to risk losing in order to win. Greipel might have been the strongest today, seeing that it was uphill and he did a long sprint, and only Hofland and me managed to get past him. But, today, timing was everything.

"I don't know what gear I used today: 11, 12 or 13. Probably 12. The legs choose the gear, not the head. More than choosing the gear, I knew you had to wait because it was uphill. I was worried when I saw Matthews go, but it was too early. When I saw Greipel going so fast, I was worried. And I saw Hofland win last week on TV, so I knew he was good. It was a good wheel for me. I didn't get past him easily, but I just had the legs to come past, and that's what counts.
 

"I spent the winter on the track, then I was competitive on the road when my season started with Sky. I beat Cavendish at Dubai, I won medals in the World Track Championships, then I had a crash at Tirreno Adriatico. I knew I needed a hard week of racing, so I worked very hard at Romandie to prepare for the Giro d'Italia and this is the fruit. Sky has helped me choose my objectives and prepare specifically for the sprints without forgetting my climbing, because I can't win classics if I'm dropped on the climbs."

Seventh on the stage for Michael Matthews meant the overall lead of the race changed hands, with the Australian moving into the maglia rosa for Orica-GreenEdge. 

The first road stage proper kicked off in Albenga and five riders carved out a sizeable gap as a relaxed peloton let them disappear to the tune of eight minutes.

Work from Orica-GreenEdge and Lampre-Merida early kept tabs on the situation, with Team Sky positioning themselves towards the front of the peloton to protect both Porte and Viviani.

The advantage to the break came down quickly after the day's only categorised climb as Tinkoff-Saxo arrived at the front, pushing a hard pace.

A sprinkling of crashes caused splits to form in the bunch on two laps of the finishing circuit in Genoa, yet Porte was guided by Eisel and Team Sky stayed safe of danger.

With 3km to go Eisel switched roles and along with Puccio the duo kept the pace high for Viviani. The Italian melted into the pack, picked his wheel and showed a cool head to take the biggest victory of his career.

With a number of rivals including Domencio Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) held up behind crashes, Porte was happy to come through the day, remaining 27 seconds off the lead.

"It's nice to be racing. It wasn't an easy stage but I'm looking forward to the next few days," he told Eurosport after the finish.

"I had most of the team there supporting me and then with 3km to go when I was okay they took Viviani up to the front. It's fantastic to win. It's good for the team after yesterday and it's more than we could have expected."