Mathieu van der Poel takes early Giro d'Italia lead after victory on opening stage

Mathieu van der Poel claimed the Maglia Rosa at the Giro d'Italia after the Dutch Alpecin rider won the race's opening stage on Friday.

Van der Poel edged Eritrean Biniam Girmay and Pello Bilbao to the finish line atop a 4km climb after a 195km run from Budapest to the hilltop citadel at Visegrad.

Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan fell heavily when making his burst for the line, while UAE Team Emirates rider Diego Ulissi is nestled inside the top 10 after taking eighth in the first stage.

One-day specialist Van Der Poel took the first race leader's pink jersey, and collected a time bonus of 10 seconds as the first rider across the summit.

"I knew positioning would be key," said Van der Poel, whose team flew to the front at the foot of the climb as he then lurked patiently until the final moment. "I didn't have enough energy left to raise my arms. This is a typical finish where it hurts a lot to sprint after a final climb."

"Tomorrow will be interesting to see if I can keep the lead in the time-trial. It'll be difficult but I'll try," promised the Alpecin rider, who led the Tour de France for six days in 2021.

Grimay is seeking what would be a historic major tour stage win for Eritrea.

"I had never done a sprint like this before, I was on the limit," he said. "Van der Poel was the strongest today, but I will try again on Sunday."

The Lotto-Soudal team tweeted that Ewan would keep racing.