Elia Viviani and Daryl Impey have joined Ineos Grenadiers as sports directors, strengthening their performance team.

Friday's announcement follows Thursday's that Geraint Thomas will become the head of racing; the pair will work under him.

Ineos are currently going through a staffing reshuffle, with sports directors Zak Dempster and Oli Cookson departing for Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe.

Viviani rode for the team when it was Team Sky between 2015 and 2017, before rejoining when it was Ineos Grenadiers between 2022 and 2025. He won a stage of the Giro d'Italia in Ineos colours, as well as the Bretagne Classic-Ouest-France.

The Italian sprinter retired at the end of the season after a successful career which saw him win Olympic and World Championship medals on the track, as well as road victories.

"I’m thrilled to return to the team that has always felt like home, firstly as a rider but now as part of the staff,” Viviani said.

"I want to give my absolute best to support the riders and share everything I’ve learned throughout my career. The team is entering a new era and I’m excited to be part of this challenge."

Meanwhile, Impey joins the team from Israel-Premier Tech, where he has been a DS for the last three years. He spent most of his career at Orica GreenEDGE, winning a stage of the Tour de France in 2019, a race he briefly led in 2013.

"I’ve raced against the Ineos Grenadiers for many years - and even alongside some of the staff earlier in my career - so it’s great to now be working together," Impey said.

"Having started my career as a teammate of Geraint’s [at Barloworld in 2008 and 2009], it’s really special to be reunited now as colleagues. When the opportunity came to join a team with such a clear mission and vision, it was an easy decision to join. I’m excited to get started and hit the ground running in the new year."

Thomas added: "Elia and Daryl are excellent additions to our team. Their experience, professionalism and leadership qualities will add real value to the Ineos Grenadiers.

"They will also bring fresh ideas and perspectives into an established environment which is really important for our growth as a team, as we continue to challenge ourselves in every area."

Some of the world’s best track cyclists will take to the boards of London’s Lee Valley Velodrome from Friday, with four — including newly crowned team pursuit world champion, Katie Archibald — wearing Cycling Weekly jerseys.

Archibald, along with Neah Evans, will pair up to compete in Cycling Weekly jerseys at the London 3 Day track meet, with the men's duo consisting of Giro d’Italia stage winner (and relatively recent retiree) Alex Dowsett, alongside Owain Doull.

Fans can catch all of the action live on Cycling Weeky’s YouTube channel, starting from 6PM BST, on Friday 25 October.

The organisers are also offering Cycling Weekly readers the chance to purchase tickets for the events - taking place between Friday 25 October and Sunday 27 October - at 20% off, using the code CW20.

London 3 Day’s highly decorated line-up includes 2023 elimination world champion Ethan Vernon and 2024 Olympic silver medalist in the Madison, Elia Viviani.

Archibald will be competing fresh from the World Championships, where she made her racing return following a freak accident which ruled her our of the 2024 Olympic games.

The event - hosted at the home of the 2012 Olympics - will also feature GB stars Charlie Tanfield, Ben Wiggins, and UCI junior road and time trial world champion Cat Ferguson.

Adding excitement to the proceedings, London 3 Day’s organisers have introduced a new race format for 2024: The Lightning. Amateur riders will compete against a mystery professional rider, in a three-lap sprint - with a half lap headstart, and a £5,000 cash price up for grabs, the format will make for an explosive event.

Riders will also battle it out on a Madison - the only internationally televised race of its kind held in the UK this year - elimination, points race and Derny race, with a prize and podium for the overall victory, too.

Races kick off on Friday evening, from 6pm BST. Saturday’s events will be split into two rounds, with races between 12pm and 3pm, and then again between 6pm and 10pm. The grand final, on Sunday, will take place between 1pm and 6pm.

Live action will be available on Cycling Weekly’s YouTube channel, between 6pm and 10pm BST on Friday, 6pm and 10pm on Saturday, and 1pm and 6pm on Sunday.

There’s still time to pick up tickets, head to the London 3 Day website, and use the code ‘CW20’ at the checkout to enjoy 20% off.

Elia Viviani has credited his helmet with "saving his life" during a crash at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.

The Ineos Grenadiers rider was caught up in an incident with about 220km to go of the Monument, which saw around 20 riders hit the floor. Viviani and Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-EasyPost) were forced to leave the race shortly after.

The incident on a seemingly calm bit of road before the cobbles also saw Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty) and Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) crash, with both Milan and Rex retiring.

Viviani revealed on X on Tuesday morning that he had suffered no broken bones, but did now have a muscle injury. His lack of head injuries, he said, was thanks to his Kask helmet. There was no reported concussion.

"The tests carried out in hospital on the day of the race ruled out fractures, other checks highlighted a muscle injury which I will be able to recover in a few days like the various abrasions on my body," The Italian wrote. "About my head, I passed all the necessary checks and all ok.

"It may seem stupid to say it over and over again but the helmet saved my life in Sunday's fall. It exploded at the moment of impact, ensuring that the impact did not reach my head. Thanks KASK!"

Viviani was wearing a Kask Elemento, which features a Multipod system, designed to protect the head from rotational forces, made of Fluid Carbon 12.

Only three Ineos Grenadiers riders finished the Hell of the North: Connor Swift, Ben Swift, and Tom Pidcock, who finished 17th.

"It’s not bad is it," Pidcock said post-race. "It’s a pretty epic race. I couldn't hold my bars at the end of the race, which was my biggest problem. There’s not much else to say really."

Ben Turner also did not finish Roubaix, while AJ August, the youngest rider in the race, did complete the 260km, but finished outside the time limit. Meanwhile, their teammate Josh Tarling was disqualified with 130km to go for a sticky bottle tow.

Just 110 riders of the 175 rider field finished the race, with 43 pulling out mid-race, and 18 finishing outside the time limit. The last man across the line in the Roubaix velodrome, although it did not count officially, was Cyrus Monk of Q36.5 Pro Cycling.

In a last gasp attack, Neah Evans (Great Britain) surged to victory in the women's points race, topping the scoreboard to claim her first world title at the UCI Track World Championships.

"It was chaotic, fun chaotic," the 32-year-old said, beaming with joy after her win.

Evans had initially stretched out an early lead, winning two of the opening three sprints, before Denmark’s Julie Leth stole a lap on the field and bumped her from top spot.

After the Brit managed to regain a lap herself, Leth scored a second and tightened her grip on the gold medal. Evans then dipped her head, kicked hard on the pedals and, with just two laps remaining, emptied herself to gain a second lap and clinch the title. 

“When [Leth] went again, I was like ‘oh, ok, we need to go,’” she told Cycling Weekly. “I felt I still had gas left in my legs, but trying to get across on your own is really hard, so I was trying to wait and get people to come with me and work with them.”

With this victory, Evans crowned a stellar season in which she also claimed a silver medal in the team pursuit and three British track titles. Her success, she says, is in part thanks to a change in personal coaching, with her partner Jonny Wale taking on the role earlier this year. 

“I’ve been enjoying having him as a coach,” Evans said. “It’s really nice to get a good result to kind of almost vindicate it, to say ‘yes, that worked.’”

The Brit was left “frustrated” after Saturday's Madison when her partner, five-time Olympic gold medallist Laura Kenny, was brought down in a crash three laps from the end. 

“That’s track racing,” Evans said. "You need luck on the day, so it was really nice that I had the luck today.” 

Leth came second in the event with 53 points, seven fewer than Evans. Jennifer Valente (USA), who won the omnium on Friday, took the bronze medal.  

Madison madness

Like Evans earlier in the afternoon, the British pair of Ethan Hayter and Ollie Wood had to make a late dash in the men’s Madison to win the silver medal. 

The event was dominated by Frenchmen Benjamin Thomas and Donavan Grondin, who chipped away at the sprints, before cementing their victory with a lap gain. 

Going into the final sprint, four countries including Great Britain were tied in second place on 37 points. Wood and Hayter roared off the front with a few laps to go, pipping the rest of the field to the line and taking maximum points. 

Speaking to Cycling Weekly after the race, Wood said: “[I was] looking at the scoreboard thinking ‘bloody hell, we’re going to come fifth’, and it’s not what I get out of bed for in the morning.

“I keep telling people I get out of bed to win medals. And Ethan’s done alright for himself.”

On Saturday, Hayter successfully defended his omnium title to claim his second rainbow jersey of the week, having already won the team pursuit. Reflecting on the championships, the 24-year-old said: “It couldn’t have gone much better, I don’t think.

“I haven’t really had a chance to take it all in because of how intense the last couple of days were,” Hayter added. 

Elia Viviani strikes gold

Olympic gold medallist Elia Viviani (Italy) made it back-to-back victories in the elimination race, beating Corbin Strong (New Zealand) to the line in the final sprint. 

The Italian looked unshakeable throughout the event, which was neutralised twice due to crashes in the bunch. Great Britain’s Ethan Vernon earned himself the bronze medal, bringing his country’s final medal tally to 10.  

After failing to qualify for the 500m time trial finals on Saturday, Germany’s Lea Sophie Friedrich got back to winning ways with a gold medal in the women’s keirin. The 22-year-old stood on the podium's top step in tears, dressed in her second rainbow jersey of the championships, and the seventh of her senior career. 

Great Britain's Sophie Capewell was knocked out in the event's semifinals. 

In the men’s sprint, Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) claimed his 11th world title, easing to a 2-0 victory against Australia’s Matthew Richardson. The latter’s compatriot, Matthew Glaetzer, claimed bronze in the play-off against Rudyk Mateusz (Poland). 

Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) won his first race of the season in a dramatic sprint on stage one of the Tour de la Provence.

The Italian made it back-to-back wins for Ineos Grenadiers, outsprinting Sep Vanmarcke (Israel-Premier Tech) and Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) in a fast finish into Les Saintes-Maries-de-La-Mer.

The stage, which was torn apart by crosswinds early on, was commanded by the ever-present Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), whose team took control for their sprinter.  

Having won Thursday’s prologue time trial, Ganna maintained the lead of the race with four seconds over Julian Alaphilippe.

How it happened

Stage one’s 151.8km route would see the peloton roll north out of Istres, before turning west through the historic city of Arles and down to the Mediterannan coast. With a total of just 424m to be climbed, it seemed a certainty the race would finish in a bunch sprint in Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

The fight for the breakaway started almost immediately after the flag drop. Having initially missed the move, St-Michel-Auber 93’s Stéphane Rosetto joined the group composed of Pierre Rolland (B&B Hôtels-KTM), Tom Mainguenaud (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole), Viktor Verschaeve (Lotto Soudal), Tristan Delacroix and Jean Goubert (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur).

Most of the day’s vertical metres came early in the stage on the Col de la Vayède, a category three climb pitched at a steady 3.7 per cent average gradient. The six-man breakaway hit the bottom of the climb with an advantage of over four minutes on the peloton.

Mainguenaud claimed maximum points at the top to take the lead in the mountains classification and secure the polka dot jersey for stage two.

As the peloton hurtled south towards the coast, the region’s infamous wind gusts threatened to split the pack into echelons.

With 83km to go, Mother Nature took control. Fierce crosswinds laid waste to the peloton, scattering the riders across the wide, open roads. Movistar’s Gorka Izagirre, winner of the 2019 edition of the race, was forced to abandon after coming down in the chaos.

Julian Alaphilippe, Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) and Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) all made the front group, marshalled by the race leader Filippo Ganna. The Italian set an infernal pace and reeled in the early escapees with 75km remaining.

Three passes over the finish line in Les-Saintes-Maries-de-La-Mer gave the sprinters who made the split a chance to scout out the course. Alaphilippe, in his first outing in the rainbow bands this year, took both intermediate sprints, earning himself six seconds in time bonuses and the lead of the points classification.

Inside 8km of the finish, Maciej Bodnar (Total Energies) took off. The seven-time Polish time trial champion established a seven-second gap on the bunch but soon saw his attack quashed by Ganna.

The group then swung left onto the finishing straight where, with 100m to go, Viviani unleashed an explosive sprint. The speed of the former European champion couldn’t be matched by Vanmarcke and Alaphilippe who rounded off the podium.

Ganna will continue to wear the leader's jersey on stage two (the third of this four-day race) which finishes in Manosque on Saturday. 

Results 

Tour de la Provence 2022, stage one: Istres to Les Saintes-Maries-de-La-Mer (151.8km)

1. Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers, 4-02-23
2. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Israel-Premier Tech, s.t.
3. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, s.t.
4. Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM, s.t.
5. Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan, s.t.
6. Cedric Beullens (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, s.t.
7. Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Trek-Segafredo, s.t.
8. Pierre Latour (Fra) Total Energies, s.t.
9. Matteo Jorgensen (USA) Movistar, s.t.
10. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, s.t.

General classification after stage one

1. Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers, 3-26-06
2. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, at 4s
3. Pierre Latour (Fra) Total Energies, at 10s
4. Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan, at 12s
5. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, at 17s
6. Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Trek-Segafredo, at 21s
7. Matteo Jorgensen (USA) Movistar, at 21s
8. Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, at 21s
9. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Israel-Premier Tech, at 22s
10. Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa-Samsic, at 23s

Elia Viviani has said his "insecurities are gone" and he's "ready to win sprints again" as he prepares to join Ineos Grenadiers.

The Italian sprinter has said he is "back in an environment that I know and where I feel comfortable." 

Viviani was announced to be re-signing for the British squad on November 1 this year and is at the forefront of Ineos' campaign to target success outside of general classifications in 2022.

However, he struggled over the past two years with Cofidis after he left Quick-Step where he was consistently taking high-profile victories.

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Speaking in a piece by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Viviani said: "I am back in an environment that I know and where I feel comfortable. I want to return to [being one of] the best sprinters in the world.

"I admit my head was filled with doubts and insecurities. I imagine the same thing happens to a striker in football when he can no longer score. But now my doubts and insecurities are gone. I swept them away."

Viviani won seven times this season, which isn't a bad total, but they were in smaller races like the Cholet - Pays de la Loire rather than the Grand Tours which dominate his other 85 career wins. 

In 2018, for example, he won 18 times while at Quick-Step, including four Giro d'Italia stages and three Vuelta a España stages.

Viviani is confident he can get back to that level, saying that there is not one stand-out sprinter at the moment.

"The riders with the most wins are not sprinters. There is no dominant winner, there are dozens of sprinters competing for the marbles. Because no one stands out, you are never beaten as a sprinter - I'm ready to win important sprints again."

The 32-year-old has joined his new, and in some cases old, team-mates at a training camp as he returns to the team he raced for over three years between 2015 and 2017. He is contracted to stay with Ineos until 2024, where the Paris Olympic Games will take place.

Elia Viviani will rejoin British team Ineos Grenadiers in 2022 on a three-year deal after four years away from the team. 

Viviani, who is moving from French WorldTour team Cofidis, left Ineos at the end of 2017 after it was clear he was not going to get the support needed to become a world-class sprinter. 

He joined Belgian team, Deceuninck - Quick-Step where he racked up 29 of his 85 victories before joining Cofidis. He did not win once in 2020 but has gone on to win seven times on the road in 2021. 

The Italian said he knew he would return to the British team one day after leaving.

>>> Brit Ben Turner joins Ineos Grenadiers for 2022

Viviani said: "From the moment I left the team, I had in my head that one day I would come back - and now that day has come and I couldn’t be happier,

"In my years away, I’ve never lost contact with the team – with Dave [Brailsford], Rod [Ellingworth], and with the Italian riders and coaches. I am really good friends with lots of the team members and especially Dave. 

"I never missed an opportunity to speak with him at races about cycling, my team, my season, and this team. This feels like coming back to a family for me."

In his time at the then-named Team Sky, Viviani took some major wins including a stage of the Giro d'Italia, the Bretagne Classic, and the Cyclassics Hamburg, and many more besides despite not having an out-and-out lead-out train.

"Next year the goal is to win as many races as I can because that’s the job of a sprinter," continued Viviani. 

"But I can also support the young group of Grenadiers and pass on my experience. I hope I can be an example to follow and an experienced guy around the incredibly talented young group that is being built."

His new contract brings him up to the next Olympic Games which will be held in 2024 in Paris which gives him plenty of time and stability alongside fellow Italian Olympic star Filippo Ganna.

Deputy team principal, Rod Ellingworth said: "We are delighted to be able to welcome Elia back to the team. We value him as an experienced rider who can win races, but also as a person. 

"He brings so much to any group he is a part of, and we hope he can inspire, drive and educate our developing group of riders. Above all though, Elia is a racer, and we can’t wait to see him winning as a Grenadier."

Viviani won Olympic gold in the Omnium in Rio 2016 but was unable to defend his title at Tokyo 2020, losing out to British rider, Matt Walls, who rides for Bora-Hansgrohe on the road.

The 32-year-old referenced his compatriot Ganna and how he had yet another phenomenal season with Ineos and then went on to dominate the Olympics and perform well at the Track World Championships too.

Viviani also gave a lot of credit to Ineos saying that his gold medal in 2016 partly belonged to the team as they supported him all the way through.

"I’ve had a tough two years and the Olympics gave me back what I’ve missed - the legs, confidence, conviction and belief in myself," he said. "My Bronze medal this year has given me the belief to step up to my level again.

"I think this is the best place for me to be at this stage in my career. I’ve done everything I can to come back and I feel proud as a person that I left on good terms and left something good here. Now that’s paid off."

Viviani is the last of four signings announced in one day by Ineos with Omar Fraile being the next highest profile rider to join the squad in 2022.

Belgian sprinter Timothy Dupont has claimed that the sprint and lead-out by Cofidis' Elia Viviani and Simone Consonni "wasn't clean" at a French stage race.

Viviani sprinted to his second win of the race, as he looked to be getting close to his top form again at the Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine.

Consonni did a strong lead-out, but he was a long way to the right on the road with Viviani and the rest sprinting over to the left. When Consonni was passed by his leader, he started to move dramatically to the left, blocking Dupont who had to brake so he avoided crashing.

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Speaking to DirectVelo after the stage, the Belgian said: "In my opinion, the sprint was irregular. I was on Viviani's wheel and when I tried to get out, Consonni moved over to the left. I was sandwiched,

"It wasn't clean. I'm disappointed because I was well placed, I had the strength. I don't know if I'd have managed to get past Viviani but I had to brake."

Below is the video posted by Cofidis of the finish where you can see the line deviation from Consonni.

This is the first race Viviani has competed in since taking a bronze medal in the Omnium at the Olympics and looks to have brought some good form out of the Games.

The former European road race champion voiced his praise for Consonni after his elongated lead-out. Consonni went on to sprint to the line to take third on the day.

Viviani told DirectVelo: "I told Simone [Consonni] to lead me out as if he had to go all the way to the line, because yesterday I was left too far out. Simone did a perfect job. When the train works, we're there and we win."

Viviani has struggled for wins since joining Cofidis, only taking three wins while wearing the colours of the French WorldTeam with two being at this race. 

He was confirmed by his team to be leaving as they replace to Italian with French sprinter Bryan Coquard, who steps up to WorldTour from B&B Hotels p/b KTM 

Elia Viviani apologised to Davide Cimolai for hitting him after the finish of stage three at the Giro d’Italia 2021.  

Italian sprinter Viviani finished fourth on the stage into Canale, as Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarchè-Wanty-Gobert Matèriaux) rode to a solo victory, leaving the sprinters to fight for the podium places.

Viviani was visibly frustrated after the line and lashed out at his compatriot Cimolai, hitting him in the side as the riders passed the finish line photographers. 

During his post-race interview with broadcasters, including GCN, a dejected Viviani apologised to Cimolai (Israel Start-Up Nation) and explained his frustration, saying he felt Cimolai blocked him in the sprint. 

The Cofidis rider said: "I'm sorry to Cimolai for my after the finish line reaction, but when I see he did the opposite to close me on the barrier, it was really frustrating.”

https://twitter.com/cyclingbetting/status/1391773889643044868?s=20

Stage three was an unpredictable day of racing, as the sprinters needed to find their way over some tough climbs to be in with a chance at the stage victory. 

Into the final 10km, some of the fastest riders in the bunch had been able to survive the climbs, as bunch sprint looked to be within reach.

But it was not to be for the fastmen, as Van der Hoorn escaped from the breakaway to take a solo win, denying the sprinters. 

Viviani said: “In the end, fourth place on the line. A lot of fatigue on the climbs for nothing.

“We look for the next on. We are always there, so hopefully the consistency pays off.” 

Viviani’s frustration may also be down to his recent results, having won just one race in the last two years. 

The 32-year-old transferred from Deceuninck - Quick-Step to Cofidis at the end of 2019, but hasn’t been the same sprinter since the switch after a winless 2020. 

>>> Who is wearing what jersey after stage three of the Giro d'Italia 2021 

Earlier this year he took victory in the 1.1-ranked Cholet-Pays de la Loire in France, but he will be hoping for a stage of his home Grand Tour to get back to his best. 

Elia Viviani has reportedly left the Cofidis winter training camp due to heart concerns, according to Italian media. 

The sprinter had been training with his team-mates in Benidorm on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, when he noticed an anomaly in his heart-rate.

According to Ciro Scognamiglio of Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Viviani left the camp and contacted a cardiologist, who referred him to a hospital in Ancona, Italy for testing.  

Cofidis has yet to confirm the reports publicly. 

Viviani’s compatriot Diego Ulissi has already been forced to take a break from racing due to heart concerns.   

The Italian had been strong throughout the 2020 season, winning two stages of the Giro d’italia and racking up a collection of victories. 

But while undergoing off-season health checks required by the UCI, UAE Team Emirates doctors discovered abnormalities during Ulissi's cardiac tests.

Dr Michele De Grandi said: “Diego underwent the normal health checks required by the UCI and the team. Subjectively he was fine and did not feel any disturbance, but the finding of an irregular heartbeat during a physical exertion, not previously present, gave us some doubt. Even with a normal ultrasound appearance, two new tests (Holter ECG 24 hours, which highlighted further arrhythmias, and a cardiac MRI scan) have drawn a conclusion of myocarditis.” 

Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle and is usually caused by a virus.  

Treatment can often involve medication, while people with myocarditis are often told to avoid exercise during recovery.

 Ulissi, 31, said he will take a break from racing that he hopes is temporary, but is not sure when he will be back to competition.  

Viviani, former European champion, is entering his second season with French WorldTour squad Cofidis after two seasons with Deceuninck - Quick-Step. 

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The 31-year-old is yet to cross the line first with his new team, but will be hoping to change that as he gets his season underway at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on February 3.  

Youth trumped experience in the Volta ao Algarve 2020 as Fabio Jakobsen pushed past Elia Viviani to take stage one.

The stage came down to the predicted sprint finish, but a tense final 30km offered some enticing racing on an uncategorised climb, with attacks flowing from the peloton.

But it came down to a bunch kick for the line, as Deceuninck - Quick-Step's Jakobsen put in a tactically perfect effort to comfortably power past Viviani (Cofidis) in the finishing straight and take the win, moving into the race lead in the process.

How it happened

Stage one of the Volta ao Algarve looked to be a long day but a fairly straightforward one, expected to end in a bunch sprint, in contrast to the big day of general classification racing over in Spain.

In Portugal, the peloton faced a 195.6km-run from Portimão to Lagos on the southern coast, with a third category and a fourth category climb in the opening 80km, a rolling middle section before riders hit the valley floor for a tame middle section.

Then with 30km of the stage left to race, the peloton would face an uncategorised climb, before the run to the line with two roundabouts in the final 2km and a long 700m straight to the finish.

Just three riders made it clear of the peloton to form the day’s breakaway – Pedro Paulinho (Efapel), Diego Lopez (Fundación-Orbea) and Alvaro Truba (Atum General-Tavira-Maria Nova Hotel) – and the group were allowed around 2-30 gap early in the day.

The peloton kept the leaders on a tight leash, and the gap was down to under a minute inside 40km.

Finally the break was caught with just over 30km to race, and the peloton hit the uncategorised climb together with around 25km to race.

A handful of teams saw an opportunity for surprise attacks on the ascent, as Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) launched a move, followed by João Almeida of Deceuninck – Quick-Step.

The other teams were alert to the danger and the attack was closed down, but the pace didn’t ease in the peloton as the likes of Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Ineos) and Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step) wanted to secure their places at the head of the peloton as they surged downhill with 15km to the line.

Paddy Bevin (CCC Team) then launched an attack with Evenepoel on his wheel, a small group forming but then being caught again.

With 10km left to race the bunch were all back together, bringing an end to the tense moment but setting up the high-speed run for the sprint.

Sunweb, Trek-Segafredo and Quick-Step took up the pace-setting, as Geraint Thomas swooped around the front of the peloton to connect with the Team Ineos train.

Into the final kilometre, Michał Kwiatkwoski led the peloton with Mathieu van der Poel also (Alpecin-Fenix) at the sharp end.

Kwiatkowski found his sprinter Ben Swift on his wheel, but Swift found himself at the front of the race too far from the line and so had to launch his sprint early.

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Viviani was next to launch and powered to the front of the race on the right, while Jakobsen waited in the centre-front of the bunch.

The Italian faded dramatically as Jakobsen launched a powerful sprint, blasting past Viviani and leaving the peloton behind to take the stage.

Volta ao Algarve 2020, stage one: Portimão to Lagos (195.6km)

1. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 4-55-37

2. Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis

3. Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team

4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

5. Jon Averasturi (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

6. Cees Bol (Ned) Sunweb

7. Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto-Soudal

8. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Start-Up Nation

9. Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team

10. Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo, all at same time

General classification after stage one

1. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 4-55-37

2. Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis

3. Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team

4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

5. Jon Averasturi (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

6. Cees Bol (Ned) Sunweb

7. Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto-Soudal

8. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Start-Up Nation

9. Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Norwegian Development Team

10. Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo, all at same time

Elia Viviani's plans for 2020 with his new Cofidis team are beginning to emerge, with the Italian set to target a number of high-profile events after a successful 2019 campaign.

According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Viviani will target Milan - San Remo in the early season, before skipping the Giro d'Italia to ride the Tour de France. This way, the Italian believes he will arrive at the Tokyo Olympics in perfect form, as he looks to win gold medals on the track.

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Viviani has ridden Milan - San Remo six times since his debut in 2012, his best placed finish being ninth in 2017, as Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos) beat Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step).

After the March race, Viviani usually turns his attention to his home Grand Tour but the 30-year-old will skip the Giro this year, where he has previously won five stages, as he focuses on Tokyo 2020.

In order to arrive in Japan with the legs to compete for gold in the track events, Viviani will elect to ride what will be only his second Tour de France, having taken a stage at the 2019 edition to complete his set of Grand Tour stage victories.

Viviani will be sporting the European champion's jersey as his new Cofidis team step up to the WorldTour ranks next year, and the Italian can't wait to get back on his bike, telling La Gazzetta dello Sport: "After three weeks on holiday, I'm keen to start all over again."

Although he won't have Deceuninck - Quick-Step lead-out maestro Michael Mørkøv he has taken Fabio Sabatini with him to Cofidis, where Simone Consonni and Christophe Laporte will also offer support.

The sprinter believes his scheduling plan will offer him the best chance of winning, as previously his form coming off of Grand Tours has provided him with a number of victories.

After riding the Tour last year, his August saw him win the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic, European road race championships and the EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg.

Similarly in 2018 after taking the points classification at the Giro d'Italia, Viviani went on to win four stages at Adriatica Ionica before winning the Italian road race championships and the EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg.

The chance of Olympic success comes around once every four years, and like Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) will adjust their calendars to accommodate tilts at road race glory, Viviani will be hoping to set another gold medal beside his Omnium victory at Rio in 2016.

Thrilling racing continued at Six Day London, as Mark Cavendish and Elia Viviani went wheel-to-wheel on the third night.

The great sprint rivals were the last riders standing during the team elimination on Thursday (October 24), with the race going down to the wire.

But it was Cavendish who put in a composed performance to take victory at the line, with Viviani beaten into second.

“The team elimination is the most spectacular race and a big show," Viviani said.

“I anticipated Cav’s sprint but my legs were completely done and he just jumped me on the line.

“Losing to Cav is never good, but I spoke to him straight after the race and it’s just good to have him back at this level and in good shape.

“Next year is another big year and maybe we can come back to sprinting against each other on the road – why not?”

Despite the narrow victory, it was Viviani and his partner Simone Consonni who went into the general classification lead after night three.

The first Madison Chase of the night was won by the Austrian duo Andreas Grad and Andreas Müller, while Cavendish then took the 40-lap Derny, his second of the week.

In the 7.5km points race, Viviani took maximum points before Cavendish took revenge with victory in the elimination race.

The second Madison Chase went to French riders Bryan Coquard and Donavan Grondin while the final race, the 40-lap Derny, was won by Australia’s Caleb Ewan.

Viviani an Consonni lead the general classification on 259 points, trailed by reigning Six Day London champions Yoeri Havik and Wim Stroetinga.

Cavendish and his partner Owain Doull are now fourth on 235 points.

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In the sprint race, Maximilian Levy continues his utter domination, winning the 200m Flying Time Trial, the sprint and the Keirin to cement his lead on the GC.

For the under-21 riders in the 1878 Cup, Dutch pair Vincent Hoppezak and Philip Heijnen made it three wins on the bounce in the 40km Madison.

Elia Viviani will make his track return at the Six Day London later this year.

Sprinter Viviani, an Olympic gold medallist and newly-crowned European road champion, will make his debut in the prestigious event at the Lee Valley VeloPark in October.

London crowds will be treated to electric track racing, with Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider Viviani the first rider named for the 2019 event.

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The 30-year-old said: “This will be my first Six Day Series event and I’m delighted to come to London later this year to race against a highly competitive and world-class field, in a truly iconic arena.

“I’ve heard how unique the Six Day Series is from other riders on the tour, and the electric atmosphere created by the fans, so I feel really excited.”

Viviani’s track achievements are numerous, including World and European Championship medals, topped off by Omnium Olympic victory in Rio in 2016.

The Six Day Series will include six events in 2019/2020, in London, Berlin, Copenhagen,Hong Kong, Manchester and Brisbane.

James Durbin, the CEO of Madison Sports Group which promotes Six Day, said: “Elia Viviani is one of the finest sprinters in the world and has had a truly standout year. We’re hugely excited to see the sport’s most in-form sprinter at Phynova Six Day London in October.

“London marks the first of six events in the 2019/2020 Six Day Series Calendar. “Last year London, and the inaugural event in Manchester, attracted over 30,000 fans and we hope to grow that number again this year with a stellar line-up of elite cycling talent, a unique entertainment offering all housed in some of the best cycling venues in the world.”

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Last year’s series saw track stars like Laura and Jason Kenny racing alongside Katie Archibald, and Andy Tennant.

Elia Viviani is on the move and will sign with Cofidis, the French outfit have confirmed.

The Italian sprint star is leaving Deceuninck – Quick-Step after two years and will take his compatriot and lead-out rider Fabio Sabatini with him.

Rumours of Viviani’s move have been circulating this summer, with Cofidis confirming the new signing on Monday (August 5).

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The 30-year-old said: “I am very excited about riding in my new colours. I was able to observe, by talking with [Cofidis general manager] Cédric Vasseur and [sports director] Roberto Damiani, how much the Cofidis team was committed to recruiting me and proposing an ambitious project for me

“I very much appreciate the desire to create a team around me and the confidence they have shown in me with the arrival of my friend Fabio. The Cofidis jersey is among the most historic in the peloton and I am proud to wear it.”

Viviani, winner of RideLondon-Surrey Classic,  has become an increasingly coveted rider since he left Team Sky at the end of 2017, taking his opportunity to command a full lead-out train at Quick-Step by winning three stages of the Vuelta a España last year and completing his collection of Grand Tour victories with a stage of the 2019 Tour. He also holds an Olympic gold medal from the 2016 games where he won the omnium on the track.

Viviani will take 34-year-old Sabitini with him to Cofidis, showing the confidence management have in building their team around the sprinter.

Rumours suggest that their current hope for the fast finishes, the volatile Nacer Bouhanni will switch to Arkea-Samsic for next season while Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) is expected to replace Viviani at Quick-Step.

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Sabatini said: “I am very happy to join Cofidis with Elia. It is one of the oldest sponsors in cycling and the team’s prospects for next year are very exciting.

“I have a lot of experience taking a sprinter to victory. With Elia, we have been team-mates since 2010 and we have a very good relationship.

“I am very happy to continue my career with him. We will do everything to win great victories in the new colours.”

Deceuninck-QuickStep produced the perfect demonstration of how to set up their sprinter for a bunch final in Chalons-sur-Saône, only to see the hard work they’d put in over six hours thwarted when Elia Viviani punctured as the peloton swept around the final turn 1,700 metres from the finish.

Although the Italian managed to contest the sprint, he had to settle for sixth place as Jumbo-Visma’s Dylan Groenewegen claimed victory.

“I almost slid out on the last corner,” said Viviani, the winner of stage four in Nancy. “I had a soft puncture and my wheel was half flat. At that point there was nothing much that I could do but try to do something in the sprint and accept any result. I’m sorry for the guys because they did a great job. I can only congratulate Groenewegen because he produced a great sprint.”

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Viviani explained that his team had got everything right until bad luck struck him at that key moment: “We’d planned to hit the front after the last turn. We did it a little later but it worked out perfectly because we went later in what was a hard, fast sprint after 200km of riding.”

“When I got out of the saddle everyone else was faster than me and I couldn’t do anything about it," the 30-year-old added.

"I did what I could. You can only accept it when you puncture, it can happen to anyone. It was our turn today. There was nothing we could do. Now I’ve got to suffer on Saturday and Sunday and then hopefully there’s a chance for me on Monday in Albi.”

Deceuninck sports director Tom Steels admitted that his team’s performance throughout the stage did provide a little consolation for the late setback. “You don’t see a lead-out like that too often any more. Kasper [Asgreen] spent almost the whole stage on the front, then the lead-out was good again,” said Steels.

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“Obviously Elia is disappointed. If you see all the work that’s been done all day and then that the lead-out is perfect, well…” he said with a shrug. “He still could have been beaten but he would have done a much better sprint. As a team, we have to be proud of how we’ve ridden. There’s nothing you can do about the puncture, but it is a pity.”

Elia Viviani realised a boyhood dream by winning in the Tour de France on stage four in Nancy, adding it to his Olympic gold and stage wins in the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España.

Italian Viviani (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) returned to the Tour de France for the first time in five years and with the firepower of Deceuninck-Quick Step – after having raced with Team Sky in years past.

"I couldn't imagine this as a boy," Viviani said after the victory

"First I thought about a Giro win, then I had a Vuelta win and now the Tour de France."

>>> Five talking points from stage four of the Tour de France 2019

Viviani topped Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) at the end of stage four of the Tour de France 2019. 

Viviani, the 2016 Olympic Omnium Champion, has won five stages of the Giro d'Italia and three in the Vuelta a España. He left Team Sky to have his chance to race more Grand Tours, with Deceuninck-Quick Step showing the faith that resulted in these stage wins.

"It was the only win I was missing. I had a Giro win and in the Vuelta, so this was the big goal of the season. I'm really happy, I'm emotional. All the work you do always pays off with one win like that one. I feel at the top now," he continued.

"I hope so [there are more wins to come], but at the moment we are just thinking about defending the yellow jersey with Julian Alaphilippe. He worked so much for me and now I want to help him keep it. Stage six will be hard to get over, but seven is a chance for me. But these two days are amazing for the team."

Alaphilippe won the stage solo yesterday and took the yellow jersey, then pulling for Viviani on stage four.

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"I have a strong team around me who believes so much in me and they delivered a perfect lead-out. 90 per cent was in merit of the team, also you saw the yellow jersey go when Michael Mørkøv called him into position. That was important and for me so special to see the yellow jersey do it. And the work of Yves Lampaert was good," Viviani continued.

"I hope this is only the start. I saw my error on the first stage, I lost the wheel of Max Richeze and lost the chance to get in the yellow jersey, but you learn. I wasn't aggressive enough, and it was a hard finish, and that all served me for today."

Stage wins in all three Grand Tours for Elia Viviani

Elia Viviani has now claimed stage victory in all three Grand Tours, finally adding a Tour de France sprint to his palmarès after a long wait.

Stage four was surprisingly Viviani's first ever Tour stage win, despite the dominance of the Deceuninck - Quick-Step sprinter in recent seasons.

After missing out on the yellow jersey on stage one by some margin, only managing ninth, Viviani and his Quick-Step train would not be denied in the second sprint opportunity of the Tour de France 2019, with even race leader Julian Alaphilippe chipping in to drive the pace in the final kilometres.

Viviani suffered disastrous Giro d'Italia, leaving the race without a stage win after being stripped of glory for dangerous sprinting, with his confidence taking a major hit in the process.

But the 30-year-old found himself once more at the Tour de Suisse in June, taking two stage wins, which set him up perfectly for only his second time riding the French Grand Tour.

Viviani's talent for delivering when pressure is high has contributed to his significant number of his 74 careers wins and he proved his ability once more on the biggest stage there is.

Quick-Step uncharacteristically relied on a more complete lead-out train to see out the tight final few kilometres on stage four,  with Michal Mørkøv and Max Richeze leading Viviani until the very final moments - a departure from Viviani's usual style of using his riders to guide him to rival trains and capitalising on their momentum.

It proved to be a perfectly-called tactic by the Belgian team, with Viviani simply the fastest man when the lead-outs were done.

This victory also propels Viviani into second place in the points classification, 23 points behind the favourite Peter Sagan, making that competition a slightly more competitive affair.

Huge confidence boost for Alexander Kristoff

One rider who can take a big boost from stage four is UAE Team Emirates' towering powerhouse Alexander Kristoff.

Kristoff's position within the team became uncertain at the start of the 2019 season as the younger star Fernando Gaviria came on board, with Kristoff apparently relegated to lead-out rider.

But with Gaviria missing the Tour due to an ongoing knee injury, the big Norwegian found himself back in the spotlight and made his mark with the stage four sprint.

After a fairly anonymous 14th place on stage one, Kristoff came out swinging on the second sprint opportunity, utilising young Belgian sprinter Jasper Philipsen who expertly delivered him to Viviani's flank on the final straight.

The 32-year-old's determination was clear as he wrestled, head down, to get the power out, but he was pipped at the line by a faster Viviani.

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Despite the near-miss Kristoff can take huge confidence from this second place, and combined with his 2019 Ghent-Wevelgem victory the signs suggest victory awaits.

As a rider who loves attrition, Kristoff was the strongest sprinter left in Paris last year winning the prestigious Champs-Élysées stage, so we could see another late strong performance this year after three weeks of hard racing.

Chaos in the Jumbo-Visma train as Dylan Groenewegen misses out

Dylan Groenewegen could be the fastest sprinter in the world, but so far at the Tour de France he hasn't had the opportunity to prove it.

Stage one was a disaster for the Dutchman, after he hit the deck at speed in the final few kilometres in Brussels, and stage four was no improvement owing to a baffling team effort from his train.

Into the final kilometre, Groenewegen and his final lead-out rider Mike Teunissen were a long way back but were by no means out of the race given the sprinter's phenomenal turn of speed.

After regrouping their next move proved somewhat baffling, as Groenewegen opted to move up on the right hand side of the bunch alone, with Teunissen moving left advancing as well.

Groenewegen then tucked in behind the first wave of sprinters and dashed back out to unleash a monster sprint that would have been enough to fight for victory if he had been better-placed, but instead he was forced to settle for fifth.

Meanwhile Teunissen had slipped through the bunch to get on terms with Groenewegen, with the pair finishing side by side at the line with Teunissen just one place behind his leader.

Whether it was a miscommunication that resulted in the disappointment or if it was a tactical misjudgement, Jumbo-Visma need to get on the same page if they want Groenewegen to deliver his potential.

First of the classic Tour de France breakaways

Stage four marked the first of the classic Tour de France breakaways, with three fairly benign riders being gifted their advantage at the top of the day, with the peloton confident of the catch.

Michael Schar (CCC Team) joined Wanty-Gobert team-mates Frederik Backaert and Yoann Offredo in the day's escape, as the trio enjoyed their day in front of the Tour cameras.

They were caught with plenty of kilometres left to tick off as a fresh bunch was happy to chase them down.

This was a return to tradition for the Tour, after the stages one and three saw some unexpected hitters sneak their way into the breakaway.

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On the opening day, it was one-day specialist Greg Van Avermaet may have got some lead-out pulses racing as he tackled familiar Belgian climbs around Brussels, taking the first polka dot jersey of the race in the process. Fortunately for the sprinters, the CCC Team rider sat up without a chase.

Then on stage three it was Tim Wellens who fired himself off the front on a punchy stage to Épernay, making the peloton suffer more as he attacked solo in the final.

It was a concerted effort from the Lotto-Soudal rider, who climbed with aggression and descended with sheer commitment. Sadly it was a mechanical that put Wellen's effort to sleep at the exact moment Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) launched his winning solo attack.

Stage four could mark the moment the Tour settles into a more comfortable rhythm for the peloton, with sprint day breakaways posing no major danger.

Peter Sagan still front-running in race for green jersey

The Tour may have opened with disappointment for Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), as he narrowly missed out on the stage win and yellow jersey to Jumbo-Visma's Mike Teunissen, but the former three-time world champion is still on course to make history.

Sagan's versatility make him the perfect candidate for the Tour de France green jersey competition, as he has proven by winning the points classification on six previous occasions, and he's still on course to take a record seventh victory.

Currently Sagan is tied with German sprinter Erik Zabel on six green jerseys, but as he currently leads the standing after stage four he could run away with it.

The Slovakian's second place finish on stage one was followed by a fifth on the final climb of stage three, and fourth on day four - exactly the kind of consistency needed to secure the win over three weeks.

He currently leads with 104 points, as Elia Viviani sits close behind on 81 and Michael Matthews is third on 75.

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) won stage four of the 2019 Tour de France in a tight sprint finish where lead out trains negotiated narrow and furniture-littered streets following a traditional breakaway chase for much of the stage.

>>> Tour de France 2019 route 

The Italian proved himself to be the smartest and the fastest in the final metres, edging Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) into second with Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) third.

Points jersey leader Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) just missed out on the podium in fourth, whilst arguably disorganisation in the Team Jumbo-Visma camp meant Dylan Groenewegen came fifth and Mike Teunissen sixth.

It was a good day for Deceuninck-Quick-Step, with Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe maintaining his place at the top of the general classification, which saw no change from the previous day.

How it happened

The 213.5 kilometre stage from Reims to Nancy opened with a relatively flat first 100 kilometres, with wide roads almost designed to lure a breakaway. However, two categorised climbs, including the Côte de Maron 15 km ahead of the finish waited, keen to disrupt their rhythm, before a flat 1.5km to the finish.

The three escapees played their hand early on, with Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team fielding Yoann Offredo and Frederik Backaert into the break, to be joined by Michael Schär (CCC).

The trio had built up an impressive gap of three minutes with 201 kilometres remaining to race, however, this distance held steady for some time as teams controlled the pace.

The gap hovered at a consistent three minutes with little alarm emerging in the peloton.

With 118km to go, a crash took down Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale), plus Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Serge Pauwels (CCC), Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale), Joey Rosskopf (CCC), Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) and Christophe Laporte (Confidis).

All of the fallen riders remounted to continue, the peloton trailing its escapees by 3-10 with 100km to go.

Summiting the Côte des Rosieres with 92km left to the line, Schär accelerated to hoover up the mountain points, whilst behind Lotto-Soudal, Deceuninck-Quick-Step and Jumbo-Visma pulled the peloton along. The gap had increased marginally, though, to 3-26.

Reaching the intermediate sprint with 65 kilometres to go, it was the CCC rider who won the lions share of the points, ahead of Offredo and Backaert. However, the peloton had begun to gather steam, the gap dropping into the region of two minutes with 70km left, and 1-19 come the 56km mark, where Backaert won the next intermediate sprint, though Peter Sagan still topped the tables in the green jersey competition.

In the peloton, a crash brought down EF Education First's Michael Woods, but he sustained minimal damage and was soon back chasing at the 52km mark. With the distance left to race down to 45km, the break's advantage had sunk below the minute mark, to 54s whilst the average speed of the peloton hovered at 40.5kph.

With around 15 km to go before the final climb of the day - the Côte de Maron - Schär attacked his breakaway companions, having remained largely the dominant force of the three from the start. His surge in pace distanced Offredo whilst Backaert hung tight to Schär's wheel.

The flurry of activity increased the sinking gap by nine seconds, but the clock still sat at 47s with 27km left, reducing to 26s come the 20km mark as Jumbo-Visma drove the pace behind.

Onto the slopes of the Côte de Maron, a 2.9km ascent at 5.1 per cent, Schär accelerated again, leaving Backaert behind to drift back to the peloton like his Wanty team mate. It wasn't far to go, though, with the bunch only 15s adrift. The final catch was made soon after, at the 16km mark - a train of red and black Sunweb riders completing the junction.

Taking his chances, Lilian Calmejane (Total Direct Energie) put in a surge to escape from the bunch, but it wasn't to be his day on the top spot. He was allowed to pedal out front alone for 4km, until the 6km to go mark.

A large roundabout with 2km to go forced lead out trains to work hard, but the peloton made it safely around. Coming into the finish, all of the fast men had well organised trains, and it was Viviani who crossed the line first, with Kristoff second and Ewan taking the third place.

Bizarrely, Dylan Groenewegen became detached from expected lead out man, Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma), with the pair taking fifth and sixth behind Peter Sagan.

Results

Tour de France 2019, stage four: Reims to Nancy (213.5km)

1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, in 5-09-20

2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

3 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal

4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

5 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma

6 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma

7 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data

8 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo

9 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb

10 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits, at same time

General Classification after stage four

1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, in 14-41-39

2 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma at 20s

3 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma at 25s

4 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma, at same time

5 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb at 40s

6 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos, at same time

7 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos at 45s

8 Enric Mas (Esp) Deceuninck-Quick-Step at 46s

9 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team at 51s

10 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb, at same time

Elia Viviani proved his return to form once more with a second consecutive victory on stage five of the 2019 Tour de Suisse.

The Deceuninck - Quick-Step sprinter glided into the final corner on the front and carried speed into his sprint on the cobbled run to the line to best race leader Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).

Viviani and Sagan went clear of the bunch thanks to perfect positioning in the final turn, but Sagan was on the wheel of the Italian national champion and had no opportunity to pass, being forced to settle for second place.

Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) was the best of the rest and took third place just behind.

Sagan held onto his race lead, extending to 14 seconds over Michael Matthews (Sunweb)

How it happened

Stage five of the 2019 Tour de Suisse saw the peloton tackle a punchy parcours that had potential for the sprinters if they were strong enough over 177km from Münchenstein to Einsiedeln, 40km south east of Zurich.

The race featured five hard uncategorised climbs in the opening half, with countless smaller rises along the way to the main climb of the day, the second category ascent to Sattel (13.1km at 3.6 per cent average) which started 50km from the line.

A third category climb in Einsiedeln (1.1km at 5.6 per cent) came with 26km left to race, marking the start of the flat finishing circuit around the town.

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The race then culminated with a short and gradual rise to the finish, with a final right turn in the final 500 metres

Early racing saw four riders attack from the peloton and quickly pull out a gap over the lumpy profile.

Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Merida), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Fabien Grellier (Total-Direct Energie) and Bert-Jan Lindemann (Jumbo-Visma) made up the initial break, before Lindemann slipped back early on to leave a trio out front.

The break extended their advantage to a maximum of around three minutes in the opening 100km, before the peloton opted to shorten the leash.

At the foot of the Sattel climb the escape were down to around 1-30, with Küng, Mohorič and Grellier sticking together before Mohoric opened up a move on the ascent, reaching the top alone.

The climb wasn’t steep enough to endanger the sprinters chances at the victory, as a full peloton crested together.

Bora-Hansgrohe and Sunweb worked hard throughout the day to support their respective fast-men Peter Sagan and Michael Matthews.

Determined to make his attack stick, Slovenian champion Mohorič adopted his trademark top tube tuck on the descents, but despite his marginal gains the gap tumbled from 1-50 down to 30 seconds in the final kilometre.

Confident of the catch, the peloton stalked Mohorič before pulling him in with 15km left to race.

Into the final 10km, the complete bunch bulldozed its way through Swiss villages under the weight of the Sunweb, Bora-Hansgrohe and UAE Team Emirates trains.

With 4km left to race the peloton hit full gas, Team Ineos leading the charge, Sunweb behind and Deceuninck – Quick-Step conspicuous in their absence.

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Things got chaotic inside the final 2km as no team was able to control the front, but it was Quick-Step who emerged at the nose with Kasper Asgreen leading Yves Lampaert, Michael Mörköv and Max Richeze with Vivani tucked tightly at the tail of the train.

Quick-Step nailed their tactics in the final kilometre, as Richeze led Viviani on the approach to the final turn, with Sagan behind.

As Richeze peeled off while leaning into the corner, Viviani was able to carry speed on the cobbled turn and opened up his sprint the second he straightened up.

Sagan trailed on Viviani’s wheel as the pair pulled out a slight gap on the peloton, but the Slovakian national champion was never in with chance at passing as Viviani sprinted hard but easily crossed the line first.

Tour de Suisse 2019, stage five: Münchenstein to Einsiedeln (177km)

1. Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 4-18-26

2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

3. Jasper Stuyben (Bel) Trek-Segafredo

4. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott

5. Michael Matthews (Aus) Sunweb

6. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

7. Fabian Lienhard (Sui) Switzerland

8. Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

9. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data

10. Patrick Bevin (Nzl) CCC Team, all at same time

General classification after stage five

1. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 15-55-48

2. Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb, at 14s

3. Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, at 21s

4. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida, at 22s

5. Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First, at 27s

6. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott, at 38s

7. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 39s

8. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Team Ineos, at 40s

9. Luis León Sánchez (Esp) Astana Pro Team

10. Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar, all at same time

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) sprinted to the win on Tour de Suisse stage four, beating Michael Matthews (Sunweb) and race leader Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) to the line in Arlesheim.

Deceuninck-Quick-Step were able to come to the front of the peloton with perfect timing with 1.3km to go, with Danish champion Michael Mørkøv leading out Viviani perfectly until 200m to go.

Sagan, sitting on Viviani's wheel, took the longer way to the line as he jumped to the right of Mørkøv, with Viviani going to the left and hugging the barriers as the road curved leftwards to the line.

Once the Italian champion had unleashed his full effort there was little Sagan could do to catch him, with Matthews showing the best turn of speed as he came late to steal second place from the three-time world champion on the line.

Sagan however holds on to the overall race lead thanks to his third place finish.

The big news coming from the stage is the abandonment of defending Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos), who crashed with around 30km to go, suffering abrasions and a visible cut to the head.

How it happened

The peloton faced a tricky 163.6km fourth stage at the Tour de Suisse, with tough climbing along the route. The two category three climbs of the route, interspersed by some unclassified climbing, may not be enough to stop the sprinters reaching the finish, but could play in favour of the breakaway.

Four men decided to get in the day’s main break, with Robin Carpenter (Rally UHC), Simon Geschke (CCC Team), Gian Friesecke (Switzerland) and Taco van der Hoorn (Jumbo-Visma) getting up the road.

With a fairly flat opening 80km or so to the stage, the break were gradually able to build their lead to a maximum of around 3-30 heading into the final 100km.

As the race began to head uphill, the break continued to work well together but couldn’t stop the gap dropping to around 2-30 with 50km to go.

The advantage continued to gradually drop for the break, but the next drama came from the peloton with 30km remaining.

Andrey Zeits (Astana) and defending Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) were caught in a crash on the left hand side of the road, with both riders forced to abandon.

Up front, the break were now hitting the final climb and with 19km to go, with Geshcke and Friesecke deciding to hit out with gap now down to just a minute.

Geshcke was unable to match the Swiss rider’s pace up the climb, with Friesecke then out front alone with a 50-second advantage.

Bora-Hansgrohe were now hammering it on the front to try and set up race leader Peter Sagan for the sprint finish.

The pace set by the German team meant Friesecke was never going to last long, and after taking the final intermediate sprint, he was caught with 11km to go.

From then on the pace was high, though no team could really control affairs.

That saw numerous attacks from riders attempting to go long, with Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Merida) and Mathias Frank (Ag2r La Mondiale) all trying in vain to break clear individually.

Trek-Segafredo and Bora came back to the front in final 3km, with Elia Viviani’s Quick-Step team nowhere to be seen.

A late move by them though to the front with 1.3km to go saw Sagan jump on Viviani’s wheel, as Yves Lampaert, Kasper Asgreen, and Michael Mørkøv all took their turns on the front to lead out the Italian.

Last man Mørkøv dropped off his sprinter with 200m to go, with Viviani choosing the fastest route to the left to give him the edge over Sagan.

The race leader seemed to fade slightly towards the line as Michael Matthews was able to make a late dash for third place.

The Tour de Suisse heads for hillier terrain on stage five, with the sprinters unlikely to make it over the category two climb at just over 30km from the line in touch with the peloton. The route takes on 177km from Münchenstein to Einsiedeln.

Results

Tour de Suisse 2019, stage four: Murten to Arlesheim (163.9km)

1. Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, in 3-46-02

2. Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb

3. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

4. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott

5. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo

6. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First

7. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data

8. Iván García Cortina (Esp) Bahrain-Merida

9. Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

10. Fabian Lienhard (Sui) Switzerland, all at same time

General classification after stage four

1. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 11-37-28

2. Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb, at 10s

3. Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, at 15s

4. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida, at 16s

5. Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First, at 21s

6. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ, at 25s

7. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott, at 32s

8. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 33s

9. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Team Ineos, at 34s

10. Luis León Sánchez (Esp) Astana Pro Team, at same time

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) leaves the Giro d'Italia blaming his head more than his legs after missing his last sprint opportunity before a brutal week and a half in the mountains.

The Italian champion who won four stages in the Giro d'Italia last year, came up empty handed in 2019. On Wednesday when the riders sped into Novi Ligure, Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) passed the line first with Viviani in fourth.

"I am not at peace," Viviani said. "In the race it's clear that something is wrong.

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"Three second places, a fourth place and a victory not victory, they can't satisfy me, the team and I were aiming for much more."

Viviani blamed his head more than his legs and longed for his sprint train with Michael Mørkøv.

"In these 10 days, I've heard of them all, it's not a question of condition, but more of a head," he added. "I don't do my sprint, but I jump here and there, following the others.

"In the train I miss Mørkøv, with my team-mates we try and we lost our way, in the end the sprints didn't go as we would've like. We don't usually approach sprints like this, and there is a lack of security. I have to pull away a bit to start again and to win again."

With the Tour de France on his schedule and a tough haul ahead with only one sprint stage, Viviani had to decide to leave early.

"You say he has the Tour de France a but he is on the long list and we need to decide what we are going to do," sports director Rik Van Slycke said.

"We will see and we will analyse. Next week there is another stage and maybe we'll go for that one. We will analyse tonight and see what he says and then make a conclusion."

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), winner of two stages in this Giro d'Italia, is also leaving the race. Many sprinters typically pull the plug with the Giro offering little for them in the second half or last week.

"At the moment, you have guys with better legs and a bit stronger than him," Van Slycke added.

"Nothing wrong just we have a few contenders to have the two per cent extra explosively and he is it missing now. Even with the little bit less legs you can still win, though."

Viviani rode the three weeks in the 2018 Giro and won the points competition.

"It is difficult to say if he isn't [in the same form as 2018]," explained Van Slycke. "Maybe yes, but last year there were two sprinters and this year there four or five. Maybe that is a difference."

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick Step) says that the Giro d'Italia race jury "destroyed his ambitions" of points for the ciclamino jersey.

The jury relegated the Italian champion from the win on Monday in Orbetello to 73rd place, deciding he veered too far off his line and into that of Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo). The victory instead went to Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), who originally placed second and now wears the ciclamino jersey.

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"What happened? I did my sprint and I win the sprint," Viviani said.

"I was the first in the flash interview says that there was contact and I'm sorry for that but there were 75 metres to go when I started my sprint.

"When a sprinter decided to go, he just goes. I just found my line and probably the fastest line to the finish line. I'm disappointed because that destroyed my Giro ambition, absolutely."

The jury also fined him 500CHF and a precious 50 points towards the violet jersey. In 2018, he won four stages and the points jersey when the race ended in Rome.

Viviani argued such things are just part of sprinting, pointing out that in stage two he had an elbow from Rüdiger Selig (Bora-Hansgrohe).

"Absolutely. He defended the position because of Pascal Ackermann. It's just a sprint," Viviani added before stage four.

"They say it was a dangerous move, but I say it was not voluntary. They say it doesn't matter. It was also dangerous if you don't do the opposite, so it was dangerous. I don't deserve the [relegation] in that case.

"It's not about the result of yesterday. I have other ambitions for the points jersey, they also took 50 points in penalty. At least we have two days coming, probably I [could have won] both days but for my mistake on the first day, for one and Ackermann was super-strong. And yesterday with the decision. I am with zero wins now."

About three to four chances remain for sprinters like Viviani, Ackermann, Gaviria and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal). Viviani, the Italian champion, said that he will bounce back mentally from this.

"The goal of the ciclamino is gone, but I want to win before going home."

Sprinters have to change their lines to fight for the win, says Elia Viviani's sports director after the jury regulated his star on stage three of the Giro d'Italia.

The Italian Deceuninck - Quick-Step rider had won the sprint, but ended the day 73rd after the jury ruled he cut off Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) in the final metres heading into Orbetello in southern Tuscany.

"If you want to pass the rider in front of you, you have to change your line," said sports director Rik Van Slycke.

"Look at the sprint yourself and you will see. He came out of the wheel of [Pascal] Ackermann and then Moschetti was still behind him. He didn't see him coming. And then Elia takes his line and now they've disqualified him, and we'll see what happens."

>>> Five talking points from stage three of the Giro d’Italia 2019

With the Italian Champion pushed back on the results, second-place finisher Fernando Gaviria was handed the win after the 220-kilometre stage.

The day ended with a sharp left and right at 400 metres to race that created extra confusion.

When asked about whether the final corners like the one on stage three should be included, Van Slycke added: "Not with 400 metres before the finish.

"There are technical guides and assistance from the UCI, but if you see the finish, this is not a finish for a big tour. That's one point.

"Secondly, it's not because he's disqualified. They should start there. If they want trouble, they have trouble with finishes like this."

Viviani, winner of four stages in the 2018 Giro year, would not speak when he arrived back to the bus. He now must look ahead as he has three to four more chances to sprint to victory after Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Gaviria took the first two opportunities.

"If they disqualify him for this," said Van Slycke, "then they will have a lot of work to do in the next sprints, I think."

Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) was awarded the stage three victory of the Giro d'Italia 2019 after Elia Viviani (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) was relegated after coming across Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) in the sprint finish.

Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) finished second with Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) third.

Ackermann went early once again, with the Italian champion sitting on his wheel before launching his sprint in windy conditions.

Moschetti appeared to not complain as he came across the finish line, as Gaviria high-fived Viviani to congratulate him on the wind.

However, the Giro d'Italia tweeted soon after the finish: "The jury watched the video footage of the sprint and have decided to relegate Elia Viviani. The winner is Fernando Gaviria".

Tao Geoghegan Hart was held up by a crash in the final 5km, which saw fellow Brit James Knox (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) hit the deck, with the Team Ineos man rolling across the line 1-31 down on the bunch accompanied by his team-mates. He now finds himself in 57th place overall, 2-03 down on Primož Roglič, who will keep his pink jersey for a third consecutive day.

Laurens de Plus (Lotto-Soudal), who alongside Geoghegan Hart was in the top ten on GC, 35 seconds down on Roglič at the start of the day, finished in 159th place on stage three, crossing the line more than 15 minutes after Gaviria. The Belgian now finds himself in 161st place on GC, 15-54 down.

Stage four should provide another day that is unlikely to see a big shake-up on GC, but should provide an unpredictable winner with the finish line up a small incline.

How it happened

Stage three threw up another opportunity for the sprinters, after Pascal Ackermann won the opening duel of the fast men on stage two, with only two intermediate sprints and a fourth category climb to keep the peloton entertained along the 220km stretch of road from Vinci to Orbetello.

In what was either an incident of incompetence or cruelty, only one rider made the day's break. Sho Hatsuyama (Nippo Vini Fantini) making his Grand Tour debut went it alone, the Japanese rider being the sole representative of his nation in this year's race after his countryman Hiroki Nishimura finished outside the time limit on the stage one 8km time trial.

Hatsuyama, who opened up a maximum gap of nearly five minutes during his day out front, went across the first intermediate sprint point first, with Arnaud Démare then taking the peloton across.

With 78km to go, Hatsuyama's gap was plummeting, with the pace in the peloton going up and causing a temporary split, which brought the 30-year-old's advantage down from 1-30 to just 30 seconds after another 2km of racing. Within another kilometre he had sat up and was promptly caught, having spent nearly 145km off the front.

Nervousness seemed to grip the peloton as they approached the second intermediate sprint, with Bora-Hansgrohe bringing Pascal Ackermann up to the front and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) also moving up. However, it all quietened down just before the line, with Arnaud Démare going across first to take maximum points this time around, meaning he now has the lead in the sprint classification, with a four point lead over second-placed Michael Schwarzmann (Bora-Hansgrohe).

With just under 50km left to race, the television moto panned to Team Ineos' Tao Geoghegan Hart back in the team cars, a bloodied knee divulging he had fallen on the course, but the Brit made his way back into the pack without incident.

Blue jersey holder Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) came to the front for the solitary categorised climb of the day, the fourth category Poggio l'Apparita, to claim the maximum climbing points on offer to extend his lead in the king of the mountains to 18 points over François Bidard (Ag2r La Mondiale).

The sprinters' teams started forming their trains at the front of the peloton as they passed under the 10km banner, looking to protect their favourites for the win as they headed towards a technical finish in high winds.

Suddenly, Movistar dropped off the back as Richard Carapaz suffered a mechanical, with Antonio Pedrero sacrificing his bike so the Spanish team could try and time-trial their highest placed rider on GC back to the bunch as they sped towards the finish line.

With 5km to go, a crash brought down James Knox (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) as well as Enrico Battaglin (Katusha-Alpecin), with many riders including Tao Geoghegan Hart being held up, the Brit eventually finishing 1-31 behind and losing his top 10 spot on GC.

UAE Team Emirates and Groupama-FDJ headed up the bunch on the run-in to the finish, with riders stringing out behind, desperately clinging on despite the ferocious pace that was being set.

After Pascal Ackermann launched his sprint early once again, Viviani chose the German's wheel earlier than yesterday, meaning he could eventually come round the German to cross the finish line first.

A few minutes after the finish, news broke that the Italian champion had been relegated by the race jury after it was deemed he had impeded Matteo Moschetti in the finish. The Trek-Segafredo rider, however, didn't appear have any complaint as he came across the line as seen in television replays.

This meant that Fernando Gaviria, who congratulated Viviani across the finish line, was promoted to first place, with Arnaud Démare taking second and Pascal Ackermann taking third.

Stage four provides another day of racing that is unlikely to trouble the race lead of Primož Roglič, although the uphill finish should provide an unpredictable run-in.

Results

Giro d’Italia 2019, stage three: Vinci to Orbetello (220km)

1. Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates, in 5-23-19

2. Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

3. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe

4. Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo

5. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data

6. Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC

7. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy

8. Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermic

9. Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos

10. Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First, all at same time

General classification after stage three

1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma, in 10-21-01

2. Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, at 19 seconds

3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 23s

4. Miguel Ángel López (Col) Astana, at 28s

5. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Sunweb, at same time

6. Rafał Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 33s

7. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at 39s

8. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 40s

9. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Astana, at 42s

10. Víctor de la Parte (Esp) CCC, at 45s

Elia Viviani has unveiled his special edition national jersey for the Giro d’Italia.

The reigning Italian champion will be returning to his home Grand Tour after taking four stage victories there last season.

But Viviani’s return is even more prestigious, as he will be fighting for victory with the Italian tricolour on his back.

The Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider will be racing in a newly-designed, striking version of the national flag.

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Viviani said: “The tricolour jersey is the main reason that I want to be at the Giro, because I want to respect Italian cycling and repeat my success from last year.

“The Giro d’Italia is my last big race in the jersey, and as the national championships this year do not suit me, we wanted to do something special with the jersey to mark what has been a very special 12 months for me.”

Quick-Step’s clothing provider Vermarc has altered the design of Viviani’s jersey, adjusting the green, white and red stripes from horizontal to vertical to match the pattern of the Italian flag.

Viviani has taken eight wins in the jersey, including four this year.

The 30-year-old added: “I have had some very special wins in the jersey, but the one that stands out to me is the one in Madrid at the end of the Vuelta a España.

“I can remember the feeling from the way that we rode as a team and the way I won, capping off an unbelievable season."

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After taking 18 wins last year Viviani is now looking to his home race for more success, as the Giro starts in Bologna on Saturday (May 11).

Viviani added: “The design of this high-quality jersey is the Italian flag in a horizontal pattern, like on the flag, and we have tried to be creative with the white sleeves in order to make the stripes stand out.

“This will make it even easier for the fans to spot me.”

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) climbed off before the reduced start of stage three of the Tour de Romandie 2019, after suffering from the flu in recent days.

The decision was taken as a precaution ahead of his Giro d'Italia campaign, with the race starting on May 11 in Bologna.

After quitting the race, the Italian said: "I've had a small flu for a few days and kept going because this race was an important step to do for my big goal, the Giro.

"I'm happy with the shape I have and I just needed to add a few recovery days before the Giro."

After taking four stage wins and the points classification in last year's race, Viviani returns with the tricolour jersey of the Italian road race champion, taking the win in a sprint from Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida) last June.

Should Viviani be able to repeat his Giro accomplishments in 2019, he'll be the first Italian champion to win a stage since Vincenzo Nibali took stage 19 in 2016.

It's the first time Viviani has worn the tricolour, having never won the title at any level, not even the under 23s or juniors, and so despite the multiple Giro wins the 30-year-old says it's "probably the best win of last year for me".

Despite taking a while to finally claim his national road race title, Viviani says he's claimed it at "the best moment of my career", following it up with three stage wins at the Vuelta a Espana, the Cyclassics Hamburg, the Great Ocean Road Race, as well as stages in the Tour Down Under, Dubai Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico.

It's by winning that Viviani believes he can best honour the jersey, saying "there's nothing better than to have as many pictures as possible of me with my hands up in this jersey," and it's his home Grand Tour that Viviani thinks he can add more pictures to this particularly niche photo album: "I think something special can happen at the Giro with this jersey, for sure.

"We have a strong team, it's a machine, because every race we have helpers and we have leaders, and sometimes, that helper is a champion."

Viviani is referring to the number of national champions the Deceuninck - Quick-Step roster holds, with Max Richeze's recent win in Argentina making it five. Alongside Viviani and Richeze, Yves Lampaert holds the Belgian title, Michael Mørkøv the Danish, and Bob Jungels has been the Luxembourg champion since 2015.

The team Deceuninck - Quick-Step bring to the Giro will undoubtedly be strong, with the team already achieving an astonishing amount of success in the spring Classics, but Viviani's rivals will provide fierce competition.

Caleb Ewan is looking to make the most of his first Grand Tour with a team more willing to support his quest for Grand Tour stage wins with Lotto-Soudal, and Fernando Gaviria will lead UAE Team Emirates.

Viviani remains confident, though, both in himself and his team: "Everyday we go down off this bus with a plan. A plan to win."

Italian sprint star Elia Viviani wanted to finish off Deceuninck-Quick Step's work and keep its string of wins going, but leaves Ghent-Wevelgem disappointed after being blocked and finishing 19th.

The Italian champion's result comes one year after narrowly losing to Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) after the team had again worked for his sprint. This time, Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) came out on top in Wevelgem.

"We can't ask more than what they did today," Viviani said. "[Zdeněk] Štybar and [Philippe] Gilbert did an amazing job. After Tim [Declercq] was in the front all day, he continued to pull for us.

"I can't ask more from my guys. Sometimes you have space and luck, and it's easy, sometimes you position well and in the end you are out the top 10. I'm disappointed for my team and after missing the chance from last year, two chances gone. It's full disappointment."

Last year, Viviani fell down in tears after missing his chance to win one of the few classics that suit a sprinter. It set off a string of wins for him, stages in the Giro d'Italia, the Italian Championship and stages in the Vuelta a España. But Ghent-Wevelgem remained out of reach for another year.

"I confirmed I can win this race again today, but everything needs to go in the right way," he added. "The good thing, I'm in the best team to win this race. Maybe the third time can be the good one for me."

The team won a string of one day races with Julian Alaphilippe in Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo, and Zdeněk Štybar in the E3 BinckBank Classic on Friday.

On Sunday, it appeared to be on the wrong foot. First Jumbo-Visma broke the race apart and saw to an 18-man move go free with only Deceuninck-Quick Step helper Tim Declercq in the move. They managed to see the race come back together, seeing the end of a move with Team Sky's Luke Rowe and three-time winner Sagan, and push for a Viviani victory.

Gilbert and Štybar followed attacks and kept the group largely together for the flat roads from the Kemmelberg to the line in Wevelgem. But UAE Team Emirates with Kristoff and Fernando Gaviria worked the best in the final moments. Viviani refused to but the blame on Gaviria for how he worked, coming off in the last metres and closing the space, to help his team-mate.

"Every sprint has its own story and today's story is a really sh*t story," Viviani continued.

"I focused on Kristoff's wheel because I saw he could be the strongest, from 5K to go I was just following him, and in the moment he went, Fernando came from the left and he just went on his wheel and stopped.

"Kristoff had a free way to go and I was there in the middle between Fernando and [Matej] Mohorič. I just stopped pedalling 200m to go. We know this is the risk, but after 250 kilometres everyone's legs are like that and the luck or the good move is the winning one. And today was not our day."

Viviani now takes a break now and will race again in the Tour de Romandie and Giro d'Italia before July, when he will make his debut in the Tour de France.

Elia Viviani held his nerve and sprinted late to narrowly beat Peter Sagan on stage three of Tirreno-Adriatico.

The Italian national champion (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) was tied to the wheel of the triple world champion, who opened his sprint early on the final corner.

Sagan, who has been recovering from illness, faded towards the line as Viviani fired late and passed him at the line.

Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) came from behind and tried to beat Sagan to second but just missed out.

Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) finished safely and holds on to the leader's jersey, his nearest rival Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) sits seven seconds down.

How it happened

After a puncheurs day on stage two, it was the first chance for the sprinters to do battle at the 2019 Tirreno-Adriatico.

But the likes of Viviani and Gaviria would have to fight for their chance at the gallop, as stage three followed an undulating 224km from Pomarance to Foligno.

With most of the climbing out of the way 121km into the stage, there were only a few smaller ramps to navigate before the flat run to the line.

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The finish was a technical test, with two sharp turns being followed by a long, sweeping 180-degree corner to the line.

Warm and still conditions make it a calm day of racing through the central Italian countryside.

A six-rider breakaway was allowed to go clear at the outside, consisting of Mirco Maestri (Bardiani-CSF), Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF), Natnael Berhane (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits), Alexander Cataford (Israel Cycling Academy), Sebastian Schönberger (Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM) and Stepan Kurianov (Gazprom-RusVelo).

The escapees opened their advantage to four and a half minutes early on, extending to seven minutes at its maximum.

Two riders slipped back from the front of the race as the stage wore on, leaving Berhane, Cataford, Tonelli and Schönberger to push for the line.

But the peloton were sure to keep an eye on the gap, slowly closing the break to the four-minute mark with 85km left to race.

The peloton settled into the chase, closing down the gap to 2-07 with 30km to race.

Mitchelton-Scott kept their train at the front of affairs heading into the final 20km to protect race leader Adam Yates.

Deceuninck - Quick-Step were the main chasers for Viviana, with Dimension Data also riding at the front of affairs as they tried to counter recent bad luck.

Their sprinter Giacamo Nizzolo was involved in a crash earlier in the day, but it was unclear if he or Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg would be their pick for the sprint.

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The remains of the  break held a slim 24-second advantage at the 10km marker.

With 7km to the line the breakaway started fall apart as Schönberger attacked his companions to make a solo bid.

Cataford closed down the move and the four at the front stayed together, but the Austrian kicked once more as the peloton caught up.

Schönberger was finally absorbed at the 4km mark with Team Sky hitting the front to protect their GC hope Wout Poels in the nervous finish.

Janse Van Rensburg made his presence felt at the head of the race, showing Dimension Data's intentions to back Nizzolo, with Peter Sagan holding his place in the front four positions into the final 2km.

Viviani sat firmly on Gaviria's wheel and followed the Columbian as he weaved his way into position at the front of the race.

Viviani's lead-out rider Max Richeze hit the front with Sagan locked firmly to his wheel, with the Slovakian hitting the front and opening his sprint first in the final corner.

But Viviani waited on Sagan's wheel and sped past as the former world champion faded.

Gaviria threatened to take second place from Sagan at the bike throw, but had to settle for third.

Results

Tirreno-Adriatico stage three: Pomarance to Foligno (224km)

1. Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 5-26-45

2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

3. Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates

4. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data

5. Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

6. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy

7. Clement Venturini (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale

8. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafedo

9. Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana

10. Luca Pacioni (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM, all at same time

General classification after stage three

1. Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, in 10-37-19

2. Brent Bookwalter (USA) Mitchelton-Scott, at same time

3. Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma, at 7s

4. Laurens De Plus (Bel) Jumbo-Visma, at same time

5. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Sunweb, at 22 s

6. Sam Oomen (Ned) Sunweb

7. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Sunweb, all at same time

8. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, at 27s

9. Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky, at 47s

10. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Team Sky, at same time

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) took victory by half a wheel on the line of stage five of the 2019 UAE Tour.

The Italian made a late surge to pip Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) to the line with Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) also involved in the photo finish.

In a fairly uneventful stage, things only began to heat up in the final few kilometres as lead out trains tried to organise to put their respective sprinters in line for victory.

In the end it was UAE and Quick-Step that were placed ideally at the front in the final few hundred metres, with Alexander Kristoff dropping off Gaviria and Michael Mørkøv leading out Viviani.

While stage two winner Gaviria headed up the final sprint, with Kittel and Bennett emerging to his left from behind his wheel, it was Viviani who was able to make a later turn of speed from the right with around 20m to go to jump to the line just ahead of them and take the win.

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) held on to his overall lead, finishing safely in the main bunch on a fairly calm day for the Slovenian.

How it happened

Stage five of the 2019 UAE Tour would likely see another opportunity for the sprinters, with a generally flat 181km route disturbed only by some unchallenging rises for the pro peloton.

It was déjà vu in the early breakaway as Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk) and Stepan Kurianov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) once again went in the escape, joined by their respective team-mates Fabio Calabria of Novo Nordisk and Anton Vorobyev and Sergey Shilov of Gazprom.

They could only establish a maximum gap of around 2-30 on the main bunch, with the sprint teams content to let them stay away for the bulk of the stage before a fast finale.

Nothing really disturbed the content bunch aside from some sand blasts in the crosswinds, with the gap only really dropping significantly within the last 50km.

With 35km to go and the intermediate sprint out of the way, the gap stood at just 17 seconds, with the break sitting up, happy to return to the peloton.

Only Fabio Calabria remained out front just ahead of the bunch with eight seconds past the 34km mark, but he was absorbed shortly after.

Nothing really changed until the final 10km, when the speed began to ramp up ahead of the finish.

Groupama-FDJ's protected sprinter Marc Sarreau went down after a touch of wheels just under 4km to go, with no-one else brought down in the crash.

Lotto-Soudal and Dimension Data then did much of the work leading the peloton within the final few kilometres, however the Belgian team weren't able to place Wednesday's stage winner Caleb Ewan in line to sprint for the win, while Mark Cavendish seemed happy to let team-mate Reinardt Janse van Rensburg fight it out.

In the end it was Deceninck-Quick-Step's work that paid off, as Viviani was able to beat his rivals to the finish and take his third victory of the season.

The UAE Tour continues on Friday with stage six, a 180km stage to a summit finish at Jebel Jais.

Results

UAE Tour 2019, stage five: Sharjah to Khor Fakkan (181km)

1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, in 4-48-59

2 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates

3 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin

4 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe

5 Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data

6 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida

7 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky

8 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team

9 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb

10 Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb, all at same time

General classification after stage five

1 Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma, 18-54-09

2 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar Team, at 21s

3 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 38s

4 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 46s

5 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Sunweb, at 54s

6 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates, at 1-01

7 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Sunweb, at 1-04

8 Victor de la Parte (Esp) CCC Team, at 1-12

9 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, at 01-14

10 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-15

Mario Cipollini says he believes Marcel Kittel is still the most talented sprinter in the world.

Italian Cipollini, the man credited with mastering the sprint lead-out, said that compatriot Elia Viviani (Deceuninck- Quick-Step) has improved but that he believes Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) is still the best.

The retired sprinting legend weighed in on the current WorldTour sprinting talent in an interview with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport.

When asked whether Viviani was the number one sprinter in the world, 51-year-old Cipollini said: “Elia has grown a lot and can count on an extraordinary team that will help him grow further.

“But the most talented sprinter is always Marcel Kittel, I think.”

>>> Simon Gerrans: ‘Some people don’t believe they’re seeing me riding around Richmond Park’

Cipollini added that he is not convinced by UAE Team Emirates star Fernando Gaviria because the Colombian is prone to crashing.

Viviani and Gaviria have opened their season in emphatic fashion, both with two wins to their name already.

After taking the opening stage of the Tour Down Under, Viviani went on to claim victory in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Australia.

Gaviria opened with a win in his first race day of the season at the Vuelta a San Juan, following up with another victory on stage four.

Kittel won a sprint stage of the Challenge Majorca in February, after winning only two races throughout the previous season.

But the German's won five stages of the Tour de France in 2017, which put him 13th in the all-time list of stage winners on 14 victories.

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Cipollini also decried the absence of an Italian WorldTour team, with talent like Viviani, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) riding for foreign teams.

When asked whether Italian team managers could emulate the success of Sir Dave Brailsford and Team Sky, he said: “Dave has the personality and the charisma to impose a project like that.

“We would have people up to par, for example [former Liquigas manager] Roberto Amadio.”

Elia Viviani completed a superb tactical race from Deceuninck-Quick Step to win the fifth edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong, Australia.

The Belgian team worked tirelessly to close down attacks in the final lap and gave their Italian sprinter a perfect lead out to help him to his second win of the 2019 season, following on from success on stage one of the Tour Down Under.

Undulations, including a stinging climb 11km from the finish, has tended to prevent pure sprinters from winning the race, but in the first one-day WorldTour race of the season Viviani finally bucked that trend.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) was unable to fully launch his sprint in the closing few hundred metres but finished just a half-a-bike length shy of Viviani. Daryl Impey, the reigning Tour Down Under champion, finished third. The defending champion Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe) came home in eighth place.

How it happened

Within the first 10km of the 164km race, a breakaway of three riders formed, consisting of Laurens de Vreese (Astana) and the Korda Mentha Real Estate Australia duo of Carter Turnbull and Nathan Elliott.

The trio led for 110km when De Vreese decided to leave his fellow escapees and become a sole attacker, breaking clear on a short climb in the second of the finishing circuit's four laps.

>>> Astana’s Arlenis Sierra wins Women’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

As the peloton started the penultimate lap 140 seconds behind, Davide Ballerini (Astana) and Nic Dlamini (Dimension-Data) set off in pursuit of De Vreese and the Australian pair.

At the top of the steep 1.2km Challambra climb, Ballerini had caught his teammate De Vreese, leaving the Kazakh team with a superb chance of winning as the duo rode just under two minutes ahead of the peloton.

Behind Rob Stannard (Mitchelton-Scott) and Kenny Elissonde (Team Sky) were slightly off the front of the large peloton but they were dragged back into the bunch shortly after, along with the original three breakaway riders, leaving Ballerini out front completely alone.

Ballerini led by one minute as he began the final lap, but by the time the Italian was ascending the crucial Challambra climb for the fourth and last time, he was absorbed by a Luke Rowe-led peloton.

The catch meant that Daniel Oss (Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked, and at the summit of the climb he was overtaken by Diego Ulissi (UAE-Team Emirates). However, there was no lead group on the descent and limited splits in the peloton, exciting sprinters such as Ewan and Viviani.

Dylan van Baarle (Team Sky), Dries Devenyns (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Lucas Hamilton (Mitchelton-Scott) launched a three-man move with six kilometres left to race, although their advantage lasted less than a 1,000m.

Such short lived attacks were largely because of the work put in by Devenyns and Brit climber James Knox, both of whom were determined to ensure a sprint finish would eventuate, which they hoped would favour their teammate Viviani.

Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Van Baarle again sprung clear without any success. Aware of Viviani's presence in the upper echelons of the peloton, Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) tried his fortune, too. That failed, and so prompted two other doomed attacks, this time from Pavel Sivakov (Team Sky) and Oss once more.

The peloton of around 35 riders passed under the flamme rouge and Michael Morkov, Viviani's designed lead out man, was at the front, producing a rapid speed.

Viviani was ideally positioned and shielded superbly, with Ewan tucked in behind. Impey boxed the Australian in somewhat, so when Viviani ducked to Morkov's left and opened up his sprint, Ewan had to wait until he too could dart left and start his sprint.

By this point Viviani was in full speed and despite Ewan enjoying a slight bit of slipstream he couldn't power past the Italian who bettered his second-place finish from 12 months ago.

Results

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Geelong > Geelong, 164km

1. Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-Quick Step, in 3.54:35

2. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal

3. Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott

4. Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension-Data

5. Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin

6. Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky

7. Michael Morkov (Den) Deceuninck-Quick Step

8. Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe

9. Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky

10. Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Astana, all at same time

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck - Quick Step) produced a tremendous masterclass in tactical sprinting to win stage one of the Tour Down Under in Port Adelaide.

Just two days after he crashed in the final kilometre at the Down Under Classic, won by his rival Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), the Italian champion showed once again why he was rated as the most prolific sprinter of 2018.

The former track champion came from deep to overtake Max Walscheid (Team Sunweb) just before the finishing line, winning by more than two bike lengths from the German.

The win kick starts his season in perfect fashion and also makes him the first victor of the 2019 men's WorldTour. He will wear the leader's jersey going into stage two, that finishes with a slightly uphill finish in Angaston.

How it happened

Due to the current extreme heat and windy conditions in south Australia, the route of stage one was shortened to 129km, no longer completing a 3.4km finishing circuit in the historic port.

The day's break formed almost immediately, containing Michael Storer (Team Sunweb), Artyom Zakharov (Astana), Patrick Bevin (CCC) and Jason Lae (UniSA-Australia).

Their advantage over the peloton stretched out to over four minutes at one stage, but they were kept in check, absorbed by the bunch with 38km to go.

A lack of undulations meant that the long, finishing run-in didn't lend itself to any more attacks. While general classification riders were aiming to keep out of trouble on the opening stage, it was the sprinters who were targeting stage victory.

They were greeted with a strong headwind as they approached the final few kilometres: EF Education First-Drapac and Peter Sagan's Bora-Hansgrohe led the peloton as they ticked under five kilometres to go, with Lotto-Soudal and Mitchelton-Scott joining soon after.

But both Ewan's and Viviani's teams were pushed back as they went under the one kilometre inflatable, Sunweb and Bora-Hansgrohe leading their riders at the front.

In what was a scrappy, tight finish that was devoid of pre-race favourites Ewan and Sagan, Danny van Poppel (Jumbo-Visma) looked to be in pole position to secure victory. It was Walscheid, however, who kicked early, lunging into a sizeable lead.

What he didn't see what Viviani charging through the left of the peloton, hugging tight to the barriers and rapidly squeezing past Heinrich Haussler (Bahrain-Merida). He tucked in briefly behind Walscheid, swung to the right and powered past the German to win by a comfortable margin after a wonderful display of sprinting.

Waslscheid rode to second, with Viviani's compatriot Jakub Mareczko (CCC) rounding off the podium.

Results

Tour Down Under 2019, stage one: North Adelaide to Port Adelaide (129km)

1. Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck - Quick Step, in 3:19.47

2. Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb

3. Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team

4. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida

5. Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension-Data

6. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE-Emirates

7. Kristoffer Halvoersen (Nor) Team Sky

8. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

9. Danny van Poppel (Ned) Jumbo-Visma

10. Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Groupama-FDJ, all at the same time.

General classification after stage one

1. Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-Quick Step in 3:19.37

2. Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb, at 4secs

3. Patrick Bevin (NZe) CCC Team

4. Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb, both at 5 secs.

5. Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team, at 6 secs

6. Jason Lea (Aus) UniSA-Australia, at 8 secs

7. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida

8. Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension-Data

9. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE-Team Emirates

10. Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky, all at 10 secs.

World champion Peter Sagan said stage 18 of the Vuelta a España was "one of his last chances" to win in the rainbow jersey after he missed out to the breakaway.

The 28-year-old Bora-Hansgrohe rider stormed after the two remaining escapees in the small Catalonian town of Llieda.

Sagan held off super sprinter Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) but could not catch Sven Erik Bystrøm (UAE Team Emirates) or Jelle Wallays (Lotto-Soudal), the latter winning.

>>>Jelle Wallays denies the peloton and wins stage 18 of Vuelta a España 2018 from breakaway

"That was one of my last chances in the rainbow jersey and I wanted to give it a go," Sagan told Cycling Weekly.

"I saw those two up the road, yeah [I had to go long], but that's it, we couldn't get them. I did what I could do with those two guys, I had to go early and third was the best I could do. It's like that."

Sagan's run in the rainbow jersey is nearing its end. He won three consecutive titles and has worn the world champion's colours since Richmond in 2015, but admitted that the Innsbruck course will be too hard for him to win a fourth.

The warm Spanish days mark his last in this rainbow era. Sagan showered in his Bora-Hansgrohe team bus then walked over to his personalised Sagan trailer.

Only three more days remain in this year's edition of the Spanish Grand Tour: two in Andorra's mountains and the final circuit around Spain's capital Madrid.

"Madrid? Yeah," the Slovakian added. "That's my last shot and I'll give it a go."

Sagan gave a thumbs up and then a helper shut the door to the trailer with its motor running.

"We know that today was a big chance for Peter," Sports Director Enrico Poitschke said, referring to the undulating finish into town that suited Sagan.

"We tried our best but it wasn't enough. Viviani is so good in this Vuelta. It's hard to beat him. Today, though, we saw it's possible.

"We have one more time in Madrid, and we will try there."

Jelle Wallays from Lotto-Soudal denied the sprinters victory and won from a three-man breakaway on stage 18 of the Vuelta a España.

The Belgian went clear in the first three kilometres of the race alongside Sven Eryk Bytrom (UAE Team Emirates) and Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and held on for a nail-biting win.

Wallays and Bytrom finished together with sprinters Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) just failing to catch the pair.

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) held onto his lead, with no change in the overall standings.

How it happened

The peloton rolled out from Ejea de los Caballeros ready to race the 186km to Lledia near the Pyrenees.

Stage 18’s profile was geared for the sprinters, with not a single categorised climb on the course.

As the riders hit the kilometre zero marker, three riders immediately jumped clear and built up a lead of 11 seconds just three kilometres into the race.

The breakaway trio – Jelle Wallays (Lotto-Soudal), Sven Eryk Bytrom (UAE Team Emirates) and Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) – pulled out a three-minute gap on the bunch.

Quick-Step Floors took the lead and were joined by Trek-Segafredo to control the peloton and keep the gap at three minutes.

By 70km into the race Quick-Step and Trek had reduced the gap down to 2-14, keeping the escapees on a tight leash to set up their respective sprinters Elia Viviani and Giacomo Nizzolo.

An uneventful next 100km followed, with the GC teams being gifted an easier day as the sprinters looked toward the finish.

The gap to the breakaway bounced between two and three minutes, but Quick-Step and Trek ensured the trio were kept well within range.

Then with around 20km left to ride, the gap began to tumble and the Wallays, Bytrom and Bol put the hammer down to stay away.

Bol cracked with 7km to go, leaving the Lotto-Soudal and UAE pairing to struggle on for the line.

As the duo came into the final 2km became clear that the peloton may have misjudged the effort, with the breakaway staying ahead.

Sagan was the first to break formation and sprint early to try and reach Wallays and Bytrom, who were watching each other on the run in.

Wallays then beat his UAE rival and held off the rapidly gaining sprinters to pick up the victory.

Friday's stage marks a return to the GC battle, with a mostly uphill 157km slog leading to the first category Coll de la Rabassa.

The 17.5km climb average's 6,3% gradient, with a maximum of almost 14% on the lower slopes.

Results

Vuelta a España 2018, stage 18: Ejea de los Caballeros to Lleida (186km)

1. Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, in 3-57-03

2. Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

3. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

4. Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors

5. Ivan Garcia (Esp) Bahrain-Merida

6. Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

7. Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Esp) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias

8. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac

9. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo

10. Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data, all same time

Overall classification after stage 17

1. Simon Yates (Gbr) Mitchelton-Scott, in 73-02-37

2. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar Team, at 25s

3. Enric Mas (Esp) Quick-Step Floors, at 1-22

4. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team, at 1-36

5. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 1-48

6. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team, at 2-11

7. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida, at 4-09

8. Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac, at 4-36

9. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 5-31

10. Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale, at 6-05

Elia Viviani took his second victory of the Vuelta a España on stage 10, sprinting to the line ahead of Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo).

The Italian champion benefited from an almost flawless lead-out from his Quick-Step team, who drove the front of the bunch in the peloton and dropped Viviani off in the final stretch to the line with his last men of Michael Mørkøv and Fabio Sabatini.

Viviani was then left to open up his sprint with just over 100m to go, with Sagan unable to come round him despite sitting on his wheel.

Nizzolo was also unable to match the speed of his compatriot and was just pipped to the line for second by world champion Sagan.

It's Viviani's 17th victory of the season in what has been his best year to date in his career after taking four stage victories at the Giro d'Italia in May.

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) holds on to the overall lead with his one second advantage over Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) in second place.

How it happened

The Vuelta a España peloton faced one of the flattest stages of the race on stage 10's 177km route from Salamanca to Bermillo de Sayago, with just the category three climb of Alto de Fermoselle to come with 147.9km gone.

That climb would be unlikely to stop the sprinters from making it to the flat run-in to the finish, while it was also unlikely that a breakaway would succeed on such a flat stage.

That didn't stop Jesus Ezquerra (Burgos-BH) getting away early, establishing a 1-50 gap alone to the peloton. There were several attacks by riders in the opening kilometres to try to bridge to him, with Richie Porte (BMC Racing) trying to get across with Tiago Machado (Katusha-Alpecin).

Porte soon sat back to be swallowed up by the bunch, while Machado made a big effort to get across, finally reaching the lone leader with around 140km to go.

Ezquerra and Machado established a maximum gap of around four minutes, but that steadily began to drop as the sprinters teams kept things in check on the front of the peloton.

The only real incident of not heading into the final 50km saw a crash between Jelle Wallays (Lotto-Soudal) and Simone Petilli (UAE Team Emirates), with the latter coming off worse as he was stretchered away by medical staff and forced to abandon the race.

On to the only climb and breakers only had around a minute on the peloton. The peloton then turned up the speed in final 35km, and eventually forced Ezquerra to relent and give up his breakaway effort, while Machado pushed on. The Portuguese didn't hold on for long though before he too was caught.

The was then a counter attack by Ezquerra's team-mate Diego Rubio with 20km, while notable riders including race leader Simon Yates and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) suffered punctures but were able to get back in within the final 15km.

With the race set for a sprint finish, Quick-Step did the bulk of the work driving on the front for Elia Viviani. They were able to stop Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) from making a late solo attack, and set Viviani up for his final sprint where he was able to hold off Sagan and Nizzolo for his second victory of the Vuelta.

The Vuelta a España continues on Wednesday with a long stage for the riders with 208.7km from Mombuey to Luintra.

Results

Vuelta a España 2018, stage 10: Salamanca. VIII Centenario Universidad de Salamanc to  Fermoselle. Bermillo de Sayago   (177k)

1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 4-08-08

2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo

4 Nelson Andres Soto Martinez (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

5 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

6 Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

7 Ivan Garcia (Esp) Bahrain-Merida

8 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Esp) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias

9 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

10 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott, all same time

Overall classification after stage 10

1 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, in 41-03-00

2 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar Team, at 1s

3 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team, at 14s

4 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 16s

5 Ion Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida, at 17s

6 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale, at 24s

7 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team, at 27s

8 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac, at 32s

9 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, 43s

10 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo, 48s

Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) comfortably won the first sprint finish of the 2018 Vuelta a España, beating Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) by a bike length on stage three.

The Italian champion's Quick-Step team controlled the front of the peloton for much of the day, but were still able to place Viviani perfectly with Danish champion Michael Mørkøv leading him out in the final 175m.

Viviani came from behind Mørkøv with Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) on his wheel. But while the world champion looked unable to match the pace, Viviani's compatriot Nizzolo was able to follow as he attacked.

His pace was too strong however, and it quickly became clear that Nizzolo would have to settle for second as Viviani went well clear out front.

Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) safely retained the overall lead after finishing safely in the stretched out peloton along with second place overall Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)

How it happened

After a tough day on a hilly route on stage two, the peloton seemed keen to take it a bit easier on the 178.2km route of stage three that began with an early category one climb.

An early break easily drifted away, with Nans Peters (Ag2r La Mondiale), Pierre Rolland (EF Education First-Drapac), Jordi Simón (Burgos-BH), Antonio Molina (Caja Rural-Seguros), Luis Ángel Maté (Cofidis) and Héctor Sáez (Euskadi-Murias) going up the road and taking a maximum advantage of around four minutes.

That gap drifted as the kilometres ticked down, with very little of action of not until they reached just over 40km go.

Quick-Step Floors controlled the gap to the break for most of the day as they eyed a sprint finish for Elia Viviani, but as Rolland sat up to return to the bunch and the gap dwindled to around 30 seconds, three riders then took the opportunity to kick some life into the stage with a counter attack.

Victor Campenaerts, Jelle Wallays (Lotto-Soudal) and Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) were the three to bridge across, though Wallays soon backtracked and returned to the bunch.

The gap looked perilous with just 23km to go at 17 seconds, but Campenaerts was keen to push on and tried to increase the gap before slipping out and crashing on a corner.

Postlberger was the next rider to try and push on alone, gaining 15 seconds over his former breakaway companions and 30 seconds over the chasing peloton.

The chasing breakaway were the first to be caught within the final 15km, while the Austrian champion leading alone out front valiantly held on with 15 seconds still at 8km to go. It all came to an abrupt end though with just under 7km to go, as he sat up to wait to be caught with Movistar leading the peloton.

Teams like FDJ and LottoNL-Jumbo then tried to fight for the lead of the bunch, with the pace ramping up so much that there were small splits in the stretched out the group as they took the final corners towards the finish.

In the end though there was little anyone could do to stop today's pre-race favourite, with Viviani continuing his great season with his maiden victory in the Vuelta.

Results

Vuelta a España 2018, stage three: Mijas to Alhaurín de la Torre (178.2km)

1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 4-48-12

2 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo

3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

4 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits

5 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

6 Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

7 Michael Morkov (Den) Quick-Step Floors

8 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott

9 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data

10 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac, all same time

Overall classification after stage three

1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, in 9-10-52

2 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar Team at 14s

3 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb at 25s

4 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors at 28s

5 Ion Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida at 30s

6 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo at same time

7 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe at 32s

8 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale at 33s

9 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team, at same time

10 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at 35s

Italian national champion Elia Viviani (Quick-Step) took his second consecutive victory at the EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg, beating Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) and Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) to the line in a bunch finish.

Viviani took advantage of Démare's early launch, jumping on to the wheel of the Frenchman on the slight left curve of the finishing 100 metres.

As the Frenchman tired towards the line, the defending champion was able to hold his power to go clear across the line and raise his arms in victory.

The other sprinters were never really close to competing, with Kristoff fighting for third behind the leading pair with new European champion Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott), who had to settle for fifth place as John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) pipped him late to the line.

World champion Peter Sagan completed the 216.4km German WorldTour race, but could only manage 10th place with a the Vuelta a España just six days away.

The race had been animated by a breakaway group that got away early, with Ivan Cortina (Bahrain Merida), Alessandro De Marchi (BMC), Winner Anacona (Movistar), Kamil Gradek (CCC Sprandi) and Evgeny Shaluna (Gazprom-RusVelo) going clear until 18km to go.

There were late attacks on the final climb of what was a predominantly flat final circuit, but the sprinters' teams had enough control that it safely came back together for a sprint finish, setting Viviani up for his second victory in two years.

Viviani will now head to to the Vuelta on Saturday, where he'll hope to continue the fine form that saw him claim four stage victories at the Giro d'Italia in May.

Results

EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg 2018 (216.4km)

1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 4-46-02

2 Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

4 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo

5 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott, all same time

6 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, at 1s

7 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac

8 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb

9 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

10 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe, all same time

Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) took his fourth stage victory of the 2018 Giro d'Italia, sprinting ahead of Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) to the finish in Iseo on stage 17.

The Italian was able to benefit from a late lead-out by two team-mates, and was dropped off perfectly within the last 100 metres for him sprint from the front of the pack towards the line as the rain fell heavily at the finish.

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Bennett, who clearly had the speed for victory, found himself quite far back and was forced to move wide on the right of the road as Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida) began his sprint. The Irishman was able to get close to Viviani, but just ran out of road as they approached the line.

The win for Viviani effectively wraps up the maglia ciclamino points classification, with three tough mountain stages to come and a final sprint in Rome on Sunday.

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) was able to come home safely on the 17th day of racing at the Giro, maintaining his lead in the maglia rosa by 56 seconds over second overall Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb). There were no changes in the top-10 overall at the end of the stage.

How it happened

After stage 16's time trial, the peloton faced a relatively short 155km stage from Riva del Garda to Iseo, with nearly all of the climbing coming in the first half of the race before a flat final section.

That meant a lot of riders would interested in getting in a breakaway over the early climbs and putting in a significant gap into the peloton behind in hope of victory.

With the mountains looming on the coming stages, there was a huge fight to make the break, with constant attacking from a whole host of riders with Mitchelton-Scott and Bora-Hansgrohe the main teams closing gaps to those out front.

With around 85km to go a group finally formed, but were restricted to just a maximum gap of 25 seconds on the bunch thanks in part to the presence of Sky's Wout Poels, who sat at around 10 minutes down on the overall.

He was joined by his team-mate Kenny Elissonde, Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida), Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy), Alessandro De Marchi (BMC), Alexandre Geniez (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Max Schachmann (Quick-Step), but it never looked promising.

They were eventually dragged back with around 66km to go, but Poels was not keen on letting the break fade away.

De Marchi likewise wanted a group to stay away and attacked with 64km to go, taking Sanchez, Poels and Hermans with him.

The peloton eventually relented in its pursuit of the group of four, allowing a gap of almost 1-30 to grow out, safe in the knowledge they could bring them back on the flat run to the finish and set things up for a sprint to the line.

The four out front rode well together, but as they reached the finishing circuit in Isea, the gap was tenuous at just 40 seconds or so.

Poels was the first to give up and go back to the bunch with 21km to go, before Hermans had to relent with the fierce pace that Sanchez and De Marchi were holding out front.

That pair were able to maintain 22 seconds on the peloton as LottoNL-Jumbo and Bora marshalled the front, allowing the breakers to ride with a small gap before bringing it all back together with 11.7km to go to set up a sprint.

With that catch coming quite early, it opened up the possibility of attacks with Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) going for it with 9km to go with Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe chasing.

The latter pair refused to work with Brambilla with a respective sprinter in Danny van Poppel and Sam Bennett back in the bunch, with Zdenek Stybar (Quick-Step) and Sergio Henao (Team Sky) bridging across before they were quickly caught by the bunch.

With 5km to go and Mitchelton-Scott on the front protecting race leader Yates, Maurits Lammertink (Katusha-Alpecin) was the next to have an attack and was able to gain seven seconds on the peloton. The Dutchman's efforts were in vain though, and was brought back with 3km to go.

LottoNL-Jumbo led into the final kilometre, but Quick-Step were able to reorganise to put Viviani to the front as the peloton approached the line.

From there he was able to launch his sprint clear out front, and take a fifth career stage win at the Giro and setup victory in the points classification.

Stage 18 of the Giro will see the GC fight come back to the fore with 196km from Abbiategrasso to Prato Nevoso with a category one summit finish.

Results

Giro d'Italia 2018, stage 17: Riva del Garda to Iseo (155km)

1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 3-19-57

2 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe

3 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

4 Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

5 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal

6 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy

7 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team

8 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac

9 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec

10 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin, all same time

Overall classification after stage 17

1 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, in 69-59-11

2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 56s

3 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 3-11

4 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky, at 3-50

5 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 4-19

6 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team, at 5-04

7 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team, at 5-37

8 Pello Bilbao (Esp) Astana Pro Team, at 6-02

9 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team, at 6-07

10 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 7-01

Elia Viviani says his career-defining switch from Team Sky to Quick-Step Floors is paying off thanks to having the full belief of his team behind him.

The Italian spent three years at Sky, but left with a year still to run on his contract.

Last year, Viviani was overlooked for his home Grand Tour in favour of a classification-focused team built around Geraint Thomas and Mikel Landa.

This year is a different story, with the Omnium Olympic champion already chalking up two Giro d'Italia stage wins for his new team.

"I always say, I never regret what I did in Team Sky," said Viviani after taking victory in Eilat, Israel. "I spent three really great years there. But I love this team, I love how they programme everything and manage everything. And I always say that I left Team Sky because I have high goals and it's the true moment of my career to do that."

Viviani left during a sprinter shuffle this off-season that saw Marcel Kittel leave Quick-Step Floors for Katusha, and Alexander Kristoff leave Katusha for UAE Team Emirates.

"I saw the chance to go there when Kittel left. I'm really happy to be in Team Quick-Step now because this is the chance of my life and my career. I'm here with my group, my lead out train, and the team really believes in me," he continued.

"They feel I'm a proper leader of the team. That makes the difference and that creates more occasions for me. I'm happy to be here and to win a lot of stages in the Grand Tours. That's a big goal for me and my career."

Viviani counts eight wins so far in 2018, including two in the Giro d'Italia – his first win in the Italian Grand Tour since 2015.

Everything seems to have changed for him.

"What happened? Just that I'm here with a full lead-out train. I have my group," he continued.

"When I moved to Quick-Step, [General Manager] Patrick Lefevere saw me as a good sprinter to replace Kittel, so he gave me all of his group, Fabio Sabatini… He bought Michael Morkov for my group. And Florian Senechal... Right after the Tour Down Under, I saw he had the quality to do a lead-out and he joined me in all my races.

"This lead-out works very well and that has created more occasions for me, that's all. My power and my sprint is always the same. Also last year, I had an amazing year with Hamburg, Plouay, I won in Romandie... really big races. Nine races.

"This year, we are ready, but it's the group that is created around me and the responsibility they give me on my shoulders that makes the difference."

The Giro d'Italia travels to its homeland tomorrow and restarts in Sicily on Tuesday.

Elia Viviani (Quick-Step) took a second consecutive stage win at the 2018 Giro d'Italia on stage three, beating Sacha Modolo (EF Education-Drapac) into second and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) into third place.

Viviani benefited from an expert lead out by his Quick-Step team-mates on the run in to the finish in Eilat, and tracked Sam Bennett towards the line after the Irishman had launched first.

The Italian had too much speed for everyone though, and came down the right hand side of the road to take a third career victory at the Giro d'Italia.

Rohan Dennis (BMC) maintained the overall lead ahead of Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), with all the main GC contenders rolling in safely within the bunch.

How it happened

A long day awaited the riders on stage three, the final stage in Israel, with 229km from Be'er Sheva to Eilat.

The peloton were clearly happy to let a break get away, with King of the Mountains Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF), Marco Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli) and Guillaume Boivin (Israel Cycling Academy) getting up the road, establishing a maximum gap of 6-50.

From there the peloton rode with the break safely within reach, gradually bringing that gap down. But the trio admirably held on with 57 seconds from 26km to go around 18km to go.

With the speed up in the peloton as they chased the break, at just under 30km to go some riders were distanced off the back of the bunch including third place overall Victor Campanaerts (Lotto-Soudal), who failed to get back on.

More riders including Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida), fourth yesterday, were shed out the back in the final 12km.

The break were down to just 20 seconds with 10km to go, and Barbin was then caught with 7km to go, with the remaining pair caught with 5.7km remaining.

It was then down to the sprinters's teams, with Quick-Step driving the pace on within the final 5km, stretching the group into one long line.

As they approached the final 500m, Sam Bennett launched first after the bunch came around the final bend to the straight towards home.

He could clearly sense the presence of Viviani behind him as he moved to the right in front of the Italian, almost forcing him to the barriers. But the Irishman had launched to early, and Viviani was able to come through on the right side of the rode to steal a second stage victory.

Sacha Modolo was able to fight back after being forced to brake, pipping Bennett to second after the Bora man faded.

Monday will see the riders travel back to Italy, with 198km from Catania to Caltagirone in Sicily welcoming them when the race resumes on Tuesday with stage five.

Results

Giro d'Italia 2018 stage three: Be'er Sheva - Eilat (229km)

1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 5-02-09

2 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac

3 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe

4 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia

5 Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

6 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal

7 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec

8 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin

9 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo

10 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin, all same time

Overall classification after stage three

1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team, in 09-05-20

2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 1s

3 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin, at 13s

4 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin, at 17s

5 Pello Bilbao (Esp) Astana Pro Team, at 19s

6 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, at 21s

7 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors, at 22s

8 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin, at 28s

9 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, st

10 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar, at 29s

Elia Viviani began the Giro d'Italia with "so much pressure" as sprint leader for Quick-Step Floors, but already released the valve with stage two victory in Tel Aviv.

Team Sky let Elia Viviani out of his contract at the end of 2017 to have a chance to ride for stage wins in the 2018 Giro d'Italia and other opportunities that he was not having in a super-team with Chris Froome.

The Belgian Quick-Step Floors team signed him and supported him with a Giro d'Italia team concentrated on the sprints.

"There's a positive side to come to the Giro d'Italia with the team all for the sprints, without the classification men, but so much pressure on my back," Viviani said.

"I'm proud, happy, but for sure, I have a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. It's what I wanted, though."

When Sky overlooked Viviani for the 2017 Giro team, with leaders Geraint Thomas and Mikel Landa, Viviani looked elsewhere. Now, he has one of the few sprint teams in the race. Sky this year lines up with Chris Froome as its leader.

The pressure had been building for the Italian sprinter in 2018. He began with a strong start, but lost a big opportunity in Ghent-Wevelgem when Quick-Step took control only to have Peter Sagan come through the back door to beat its new sprinter.

"I hoped to be successful. We started in the best way possible. I already have seven wins, that's also because I have a big team behind me and they believed in me from the first days of 2018," he continued.

"You see the entire team around me for the lead out, like the Giro days when Alessandro Petacchi or Mario Cipollini went to the Giro with the full train. I'm really proud of this.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to start with a little bit less pressure and then try to win again. I want to win s much as possible. I broke the ice today. I'd also like to win in Rome, when the Giro ends, Imola, Nervesa della Battaglia, also tomorrow in Eilat.

"I'm going to try to win two, three or four times, whatever it is, and try to take this ciclamino jersey to Rome. The Giro is long, but there are many hurdles. I'm going to take it by day by day to Rome."

Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) sprinted to victory on the first road stage of the 2018 Giro d'Italia, beating Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Triestina) to the line on stage two.

Viviani's speed in the final 50 metres could not be matched by anyone as he rounded his fellow Italian Mareczko who had launched his sprint first on the left hand side of the road towards the finish in Tel Aviv.

Mareczko had come from far back in the bunch with a fine turn of speed, and was able to hold on for second place ahead of Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) who reacted too late to the sprints ahead of him.

Rohan Dennis (BMC) took over the race lead from Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), picking up three bonus seconds at the second intermediate sprint of the day to bridge the two second deficit between them after the opening time trial.

There were no significant time gaps between the main GC contenders, with the likes of Chris Froome (Team Sky) as well as Dumoulin and Dennis arriving safely in the bunch.

How it happened

A hot day welcomed the riders for the second stage in Israel, with 167km on the cards from Haifa to Tel Aviv.

There was a sense that no team was willing to risk any energy too early with a headwind for much of the course, but Davide Ballerini (Androni Giocattoli) and Lars Bak (Lotto-Soudal) were the first two riders to get free and form a breakaway.

They were eventually joined by Guy Sagiv (Israel Cycling Academy), establishing a maximum gap of over three minutes on the bunch.

Their lead was never going to last though, with BMC keen on bringing it all back together to have two goes - through the only categorised climb and an intermediate sprint - at some bonus seconds for their leader Rohan Dennis, who sat just two seconds off the race lead.

That meant the break were practically caught with 76km to go on the only climb, but Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF) was able to break clear of the bunch, taking maximum points over the categorised climb with Guillaume Boivin (Israel Cycling Academy) behind.

BMC then prepared for their second bite at the cherry, pushing the pace on the front to lead out Rohan Dennis, who successfully took the intermediate sprint bonus of three seconds at 61.5km to go, ahead of Elia Viviani.

Victor Campanaerts (Lotto Soudal), who sat on the same time as Dennis after the stage one time trial, missed out on bonus seconds and a chance at the maglia rosa, and decided to go alone in the breakaway after the sprint point, but was caught quickly after at 55km to go.

Boivin then went clear with just over 50km to go and got 1-40, with the peloton happy to let him toil alone out front as they prepared for the sprint finish. His solo efforts were in vain, as the peloton closed in on him with 17.5km to go.

Things began to get very nervous within the final 10km as teams jostled for position on the twisty, narrow roads into the city of Tel Aviv.

As the speed ramped up, there was a puncture for Wout Poels with 5.2km to go, with his Sky team-mate Sergio Henao giving him a wheel to try and get him back in contention, however he eventually lost 40 seconds.

There were a couple of short lived attacks towards the finish, with José Gonçalves (Katusha-Alpecin) trying with 3.2km, as did Tosh van der Sande (Lotto-Soudal) with 2km remaining.

But the pace was far too high for an individual rider to get away, with Quick-Step moving to the front with Zdenek Stybar in the final 1.5km, setting things up for Viviani.

Bora-Hansgrohe were most prominent team towards the front of affairs in the final few hundred metres in support of Sam Bennett, but it was Jakob Mareczko who moved up on the left side of the road to launch his sprint first.

Viviani instinctively jumped on his wheel, and as Mareczko moved across to the right, Viviani was free to go full force and beat everyone to win the stage.

Mareczko was able to hold on for second place, while Bennett, after reacting too late to the charging Italian pair, took third place.

Sunday's stage three will see another opportunity for the sprinters in Israel before the race moves back to Italy, with 229km from Be'er Sheva to Eilat.

Result

Giro d'Italia 2018 stage two: Haifa - Tel Aviv (167km)

1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 03-51-20

2 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia

3 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe

4 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

5 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac

6 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

7 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data

8 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec

9 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin

10 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team, all same time

Overall classification after stage two

1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team, in 04-03-21

2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 1s

3 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal, at 3s

4 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin, at 13s

5 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin, at 17s

6 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team, at 19s

7 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, at 21s

8 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors, at 22s

9 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin, at 28s

10 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, st

A stunned Elia Viviani sat on the ground after the finish line in Belgium today, crushed to miss the chance at winning Ghent-Wevelgem after his Quick-Step Floors team dedicated themselves to his sprint. It had been "one of his biggest chances" to check off a major goal his list.

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Viviani formed part of an elite group of 23 riders off the Kemmelberg. In Wevelgem, he began his sprint late on the right as world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) charged down the left towards his third title in the one-day race.

"When you lose one of the biggest chances to win a race when you have a career goal, and you miss the chance to win when you know you can win..." said Viviani at the finish, still emotional and wiping his tears.

"It was a big chance to win a gold-career race and I missed it. Of course, we'll come back. But today, we lost it from the world champion."

Quick-Step Floors had the numerical advantage in Ghent-Wevelgem, but lost to Sagan when it bet on a sprint – a tactic it would not have changed.

The Belgian super-team charged off the Kemmelberg climb with sprinter Elia Viviani, Philippe Gilbert, Zdenek Stybar and Yves Lampaert.

"What would we do differently? Win!" general manager Patrick Lefevere said.

"I think if you are four people in the first group then you have to take the risk to help our sprinter.

"Would we have played the tactics differently? No, no. It was not possible in this kind of race to play it differently. No, I think we engaged Elia to win and it was his chance, and OK, it's not important who wins, it's Mister Sagan.

"And Elia came from the back, he was a little bit struggling between Démare and some other riders, but before he could react, Peter had three bike lengths and there was nothing to do."

Team Sky let the Italian sprinter out of his contract early to have a chance to race with Quick-Step Floors, who will take him to the Giro d'Italia this summer. Despite the near miss on Sunday, he has been successful in 2018 with six wins. Today, he appeared ready for number seven from the top of the Kemmelberg climb at 34.3 kilometres out.

"I was so concentrated from the whole way, from the top down. I was always at the front in the key moments," continued Viviani.

"I am convinced that I made the right decision to follow Démare in the sprint, so this is the story of this one sprint. We had a small gap on the right. Démare went, and I closed my eyes and went, but I just missed these two seconds when Sagan went on the left."

The winner of the omnium at the 2016 Olympics had a chance to take one of the biggest one-day races for a sprinter. It would have been the most important one-day race in his palmarès, superseding his wins in the Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France and Cyclassics Hamburg in 2017.

"We know after 250 kilometres, Peter is fast," added Viviani, "but today, I felt faster."

Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) put in an impressive sprinting performance to win Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde in Belgium on Wednesday.

The Italian had looked like he was boxed in heading into the final 500 metres, but accelerated through his rivals to claim the victory.

Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) was the only rider to come home within a bike-length of Viviani to claim second, with Jasper Philipsen (Hagens Berman Axeon) in third.

It's the latest victory for Viviani in what has already been a successful debut season with Quick-Step Floors, with stage wins in the Tour Down Under, Abu Dhabi Tour, and two stage wins and the overall victory in the Dubai Tour.

How it happened

The day's escape group took a short while to form up after the start in Bruges. After 30km, six riders had clipped off the front of the peloton: Sean Bennett (Hagens Berman Axeon), David Boucher (Tarteletto-Isorex-SH), Conor Dunne (Aqua Blue Sport), Brian van Goethem (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij), Ylber Safer (Tarteletto-Isorex-SH) and Tanner Putt (UnitedHealthcare).

After the opening cobbled sector of the race, the break was enjoying a significant margin over the peloton of nearly nine minutes.

By the half-way point of the 202.4km race, the gap had shrunk to just under five minutes. There was plenty of movement in the peloton, with a couple of crashes and crosswinds playing a part in creating splits.

With 50km to go, the peloton largely came back together. Up front, the break was working very well together, although their advantage dipped to below two minutes. The tall figure of Dunne was noticeable at the head of the escape, putting in strong turns.

Several teams put riders at the front of the peloton, with Quick-Step Floors, Lotto-Soudal and Bora-Hansgrohe keeping themselves in the thick of the action. Through the narrow roads into the final 40km, the peloton resembled a tadpole, with a bulbous mass of riders at the front and a long line of riders tailing off the back of them.

>>> Cobbled Classics 2018: Latest news, reports and race info

With 35km to go, the peloton split again after a tight corner and onto an exposed section of road between flat fields. The front group were keen to keep the split open, and so the pace was significantly increased to the detriment of the break.

As the break headed into the finishing circuit they held on to a slim 30-second lead.

Putt was the first to drop out of the escape and rejoin the peloton with 21km to go.

Lotto-Soudal hit the front of the bunch with 9km to go and forced a break in the peloton, joined by riders from Quick-Step and Bora-Hansgrohe. Several echelons formed behind them, splintering the race into pieces.

Up front, van Goethem gave one last effort at the front before they were joined by the front group from the peloton within 5km to go.

A large chase group was strung out in an attempt to make the junction with the leaders before the finish – and they achieved their aim with 4km to go.

Bora-Hansgrohe did much of the pace-making into the finish, with Quick-Step further back. Maximiliano Richeze was Viviani's lead-out man but looked to have lost his leader at one point. Viviani did not panic despite being slightly boxed in, and opened up his sprint to take the victory.

Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde was formerly a three-day race, but changed to a single day men's race for 2018 followed by a single-day elite women's race on Thursday, March 22. The event's organisers are aiming to create a two-day men's race in 2019, and are hoping for UCI WorldTour status.

Top-level racing continues in Belgium on Friday, with E3 Harelbeke.

Result

Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde: Bruges to De Panne, 202.4km

1. Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors

2. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe

3. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Hagens Berman Axeon

4. Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin

5. Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

6. Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise

7. Roy Jans (Bel) Cibel-Cebon

8. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis

9. Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport

10. Eduard Grosu (Rom) Nippo–Vini Fantini

Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) recovered from being caught on the wrong side of a split in the peloton caused by crosswinds to win the second stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour.

Crosswinds split the race into multiple groups with 50km to go, with Viviani caught in a second group alongside then-race leader Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) which at one point was nearly 40 seconds behind a front group including Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) and Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin).

However with 25km remaining the roads changed direction and the pace slackened, allowing the front three groups to come back together and set up the expected bunch sprint at Yas Beach.

From the Quick-Step Floors did a good job to keep their powder dry, with James Knox setting the pace, before the rest of the team came to the front at the perfect time with a kilometres to go.

Fabio Sabatini was Viviani's final lead-out man, leaving the Italian to come out of the wheels and sprint around Danny Van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) to win the stage and also move into the overall lead as Kristoff finished in seventh place.

How it happened

After the monotony of the opening stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour, stage two saw plenty of action with crosswinds ripping the race to pieces in the latter stages.

However the early stages followed a familiar pattern with five riders, Joey Rosskopf (BMC Racing), Jaco Venter (Dimension Data), Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani CSF), Alexander Porsev (Gazprom-RusVelo), and Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk) escaping in the first few kilometres.

That quintet enjoyed a maximum lead of only a few minutes, but that was quickly slashed with just under 50km to go as the peloton hit a section of road with crosswinds and was split to pieces.

Marcel Kittel's Katusha-Alpecin team were largely responsible for the upping in pace, with a group of around 25 riders able to open a gap, while race leader Alexander Kristoff was among those caught behind.

Caleb Ewan and André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) were among those in the front group, as well as overall contenders such as Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), and Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), while Kristoff was left without team-mates in the second group which was struggling to close the gap to less than 30 seconds.

However with 25km to go the gap slowly began to come down as the road changed direction and the impetus went out of the front group, allowing the Kristoff group to regain contact with the front of the race with 15km remaining.

With the race back together it was up to James Knox to lead the bunch to the five kilometres to go mark, at which point the sprint lead-out trains really started to form in earnest with Katusha-Alpecin on the right of the road and LottoNL-Jumbo, Quick-Step Floors, and Team Sky on the left.

In the end it was the left-hand side of the road that prevailed, with Julian Alaphilippe leading Quick-Step Floors under the flamme rouge.

From there Viviani was in a good position on Van Poppel's wheel, and opened his sprint on the left-hand side of the road, coming around Van Poppel and Pasal Ackermann to win the stage.

The Abu Dhabi Tour continues on Friday with a 133km stage between Nation Towers and Big Flag.

Results

Abu Dhabi Tour 2018, stage two: Yas Mall to Yas Beach, 154km

1. Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 3-15-30

2. Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

3. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe

4. Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky

5. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott

6. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb

7. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

8. Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

9. Rudy Barbier (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale

10. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data, all at same time

General classification after stage two

1. Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 8-03-44 8:03:44

2. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates, at same time

3. Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 4 secs

4. Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF, at same time

5. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott, at 6 secs

6. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time

7. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team, at 7 secs

8. Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo

9. Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF, at same time

10. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data, at 8 secs

Quick-Step Floors sprinter Elia Viviani is ready to “play the game” tomorrow as he anticipates his closest rivals for the Dubai Tour GC trying to find ways to wrestle the jersey from his shoulders.

The Italian placed sixth on the steep uphill finish to Hatta Dam on the race’s penultimate stage. That was enough to preserve a lead of two seconds over Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) and four seconds over Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) who finished the fourth stage second and first respectively.

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Saturday’s race is likely to end in a bunch sprint as it is very flat and only 129km. But with a 10 second time bonus for the win Colbrelli, and Cort Nielsen are at the head of a queue of riders that are within striking distance, including French fast-man Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Belgian Nathan Van Hooydonck (BMC).

Viviani took the race lead on Thursday after the previous leader, Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo), received a 20 second time penalty for drafting cars after a mechanical. 29-year-old Viviani also won a stage of the race in the sprint finish on stage two.

Viviani said: “We started this morning with four seconds on Mark Cavendish and the main goal is to have more seconds on the pure sprinters. It’s better to now have four seconds on Cort Neilsen than it is to have four seconds on Cav or [Marcel] Kittel because tomorrow they can potentially beat me.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e8rxBKPcPI

If the former Sky rider is able to maintain his lead tomorrow it will be his biggest general classification victory.

He added: “At the moment I’m happy to have two seconds on Cort Nielsen and Colbrelli and play the game tomorrow.”

The Giro stage winner seemed to have been confident of keeping the jersey that he picked up on Thursday, despite the tough climb to the finish.

“I felt pretty good on the climb so I said to the guys to try and close the gap [to the breakaway] and you saw Terpstra and Lampaert were pulling full gas because that gap was too much time,” he said.

Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) recovered from a puncture with 20km to go to take his second victory of the season as he edged out race leader Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) on stage two of the Dubai Tour.

Third on the opening stage, Viviani made his way into the perfect position in the final kilometre as the various lead-out trains struggled to control a messy finale.

The Italian sprinter made his move with 200m remaining, jumping out of the wheels to first hold off the challenge of Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) - who would eventually finish fourth - and the fast accelerating Groenewegen to take the victory by half a bike length.

However second place for Groenewegen ensure that the Dutchman held on to the overall lead, although Viviani was able to move within just two seconds of the leader's blue jersey.

How it happened

The second stage of the 2018 Dubai Tour saw six riders go clear as soon as the flag dropped, with Nathan Van Hooydonck (BMC Racing), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Fuwen Xue (Mitchelton-BikeExchange), Charles Planet (Team Novo Nordisk), Mohamed Al Mansouri (United Arab Emirates) and Yousif Mirza (UAE Team Emirates) quickly opening a lead of more than seven minutes after 20km.

With a long day in the saddle ahead, the peloton wasn't in any rush to chase the break down, but did at least bring it to below two minutes with more than 60km remaining before Mirza and Van Hooydonck decided to sit up and drop back to the bunch to leave just four riders still at the head of the race.

UAE national team rider Mansouri was the next rider to fall back from the break as Edet, Xue, and Planet persevered even as their lead dropped below a minute for the first time with 25km remaining.

That was as a result of an upping of the pace by Katusha-Alpecin and LottoNL-Jumbo, with Viviani suffering an ill-timed puncture.

By the time the Italian's wheel was changed he was more than a minute off the front of the bunch, but quickly had team-mates around him as he set about moving back up through the cars eventually regaining contact with 17km remaining.

The catch of Edet and Planet, the final two escapees was finally made with nine kilometres remaining, with the lead-out trains taking up position at the front of the bunch.

Bahrain-Merida took control of the bunch with three kilometres to go, but the front of the peloton was constantly changing with Katusha-Alpecin and Dimension Data also fighting for position.

The final couple of kilometres remained messy as Katusha-Alpecin's lead-out riders tried to create a high pace but without Marcel Kittel anywhere to be seen, before Viviani found himself in the ideal position with 300m to go.

The Italian jumped out of the wheels at the ideal moment as Cavendish attempted to come around the outside before falling back. Instead the main threat came from race leader Groenewegen, who accelerated alongside Viviani but was unable to come past before the line, allowing the Quick-Step Floors sprinter to celebrate victory.

However second place meant Groenewegen maintained his overall lead by two seconds over Viviani.

The 2018 Dubai Tour continues on Thursday with a 183km stage from Skydive Dubai to Fujairah.

Results

Dubai Tour, stage two: Skydive Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah, 190km

1. Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 4-34-31

2. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

3. Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana

4. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data

5. John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo

6. Magnus Cort (Den) Astana

7. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

8. Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing

9. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

10. Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport, all at same time

General classification after stage two

1. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, in 8-25-50

2. Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, at 2 secs

3. Nathan Van Hooydonk (Bel) BMC Racing, at 9 secs

4. Magnus Cort (Den) Astana, at 9 secs

5. Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana, at 10 secs

6. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates, at 12 secs

7. Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, at 16 secs

8. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

9. John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo

10. Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Mitchelton-BikeExchange, all at same time

Elia Viviani validated his decision to leave Team Sky, claiming his first scalp of the season for new team Quick-Step Floors at the Tour Down Under with a sensational sprint in oppressive heat on Thursday.

The Italian made up seven bike lengths in the closing metres of the technical finish to take line honours ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Team Sunweb) and Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott).

“At the roundabout at two kilometres to go the guys lost each other a little bit and then we only had [Michael] Morkov and Saba [Fabio Sabatini], they did a perfect job to bring him into the last corner about sixth or seventh position, which was also the plan,” Quick-Step Floors sports director Rik Van Slycke said.

“If you see the sprint today I think it’s no discussion, he came from behind and left two bike [lengths] behind so today he made the fastest sprint.”

>>> Elia Viviani capitalises on Caleb Ewan’s mistake to win Tour Down Under stage three

Viviani joined Quick-Step this season with the promise of returning to the Grand Tours, which he got edged out of at Sky with its primary focus on overall results.

The Rio Olympic omnium gold medalist has been a quick study at the new stable, which has a plan for him that is not perfected but already coming together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_adHEhqg8E

“From the [prelude] criterium we understood we could win a stage and that’s the goal we had this week. We just needed two or three days to understand how we needed to do the lead-out and have a good feeling with all the teammates,” Viviani said.

The sprinter marked 10 victories at Sky in 2017, which his new teammates have tipped will escalate this year due to the bolstered support he has, and will receive.

“My goal is to win stages at the Giro, the Tour de France, Vuelta, or every race I go. When I saw this chance to move to Quick-Step, I think it’s not any other team I can leave Sky for. I really need to take this chance, it’s important and I think in the best moment of my life. I’m 28 years old so it’s the moment to take the best results now,” he said.

>>> Tour Down Under 2018: Latest news, reports and race info

Viviani was in the mix but not on the mark at the prelude criterium and stage one earlier this week, where timing as well as the speed of new chief pilot Sabatini, accustomed to piloting Marcel Kittel, weren’t right.

It clicked in stage three, however, spoiling race leader Ewan’s party.

Viviani is set to compete at the Giro d’Italia this season with Quick-Step likely to take Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria to the Tour de France.

"We are really determined, I’m really proud of my team,” he said.