20-year-old Davide Donati (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe Rookies) sprinted to victory on stage 2 of the Giro di Sardegna, outpacing fellow Italian Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal-QuickStep) to the line in Carbonia.
The pair were at the head of a reduced peloton at the finish of the 136km stage. Donati dove into the final bend, 50 metres from the line, first to steal a march on his rivals and speed to a second career win.
Patrick Boje Frydkjær (Lidl-Trek Future Racing) rounded out the podium, while stage 1 winner Nicolò Garibbo (Team Ukyo) finished among the peloton to hold on to the race lead.
"I got over the last climb well and knew that I was one of the fastest in the group," Donati said after the stage.
"Because of a late attack, I opened my sprint early and gave it all. What's important to me is that we rode really well as a team today, so we can be really satisfied. Now we want to continue in the same vein over the next few days."
The stage featured 1,900 metres of elevation in the form of two third-category hills and the second-category climb of the Valico Montecani (6.5km at 5.7%) at 28km from the finish. However, despite the challenging parcours, a breakaway never went clear.
There were plenty of attempts, but with the front of the race run at a high pace, there was no chance for anyone to get away.
Instead, there was GC drama during the stage as Garibbo dropped out of the rear of the lead group. The 26-year-old did manage to get back in touch with the peloton in time for the decisive moments of the stage, however.
It was no surprise that the day's toughest climb of the Valico Montecani provoked a move off the front. Stage 1 runner-up Filippo Zana (Soudal-QuickStep) went clear along with teammate Garofoli, Alessandro Verre (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort), Luca Paletti (Bardiani CSF-7 Saber), and Harry Hudson (Lidl-Trek Future Racing).
The quintet were brought back by Garibbo's group before the 20km to go mark, while Darren van Bekkum (XDS-Astana) was quick to counter-attack off the front.
Van Bekkum made 30 seconds over the chase, but behind him, a larger peloton merged with the leaders, meaning his time in the lead was limited.
In the end, the Dutchman was caught with 5km to go, setting up a sprint finish for the win. It was Donati who stole a march on the rest and duly crossed the line first, adding a stage in Sardinia to his triumph last year on stage 3 of the Tour de Wallonie.
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