Tadej Pogacar was able to navigate a late puncture to win stage two of the Giro d'Italia on Sunday.
It ensured Pogacar claimed the pink jersey after he sealed victory by 27 seconds ahead of Daniel Martinez and Great Britain’s Geraint Thomas in Santuario di Oropa.
Slovenian Pogacar had finished third in Saturday’s opening stage but delivered on his tag as Giro favourite in the first summit finish in this year’s race.
It could have been a different story after the two-time Tour de France winner hit the deck towards the end of the 161-kilometre mountain stage as he tried to round a corner with a punctured front tyre.
Fortunately, Pogacar was not injured and was quickly given a new bike, which allowed him to lead UAE Team Emirates to victory with a time of three hours, 54 minutes and 20 seconds.
"I was only missing a Giro stage and this was one of my dreams," Pogacar, who now has stage wins in all three Grand Tours, told Eurosport.
"It's a big thing in cycling so I'm super happy."
Irish rider Eddie Dunbar of Team Jayco-AlUla was involved in a crash that saw him needing assistance from the medical car but still managed to finish in 51st.
The incident cost him significant General Classification time however as he dropped to 36th overall, 6:20 behind Pogacar.
Bora-Hansgrohe lead-out man Ryan Mullen was 146th, 24:34 behind Pogacar and is 151st in GC.
While Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers could not keep up, the British rider, regarded as Pogacar's biggest threat, did move up to second in the general classification ahead of stage three from Novara to Fossano.
"I was hoping to follow but if I kept going like that I would have completely blown up," Thomas said.
"I didn’t feel quite as good as yesterday, but it’s OK for the second day. Hopefully I
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Giro
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Tadej Pogacar
Eddie Dunbar