Mark Cavendish has taken the first sprinters' stage at the Giro d'Italia, getting a perfect lead-out from his team and then going very early and having the staying power to easily take the win.
The QuickStep Alpha Vinyl rider won the stage - some 201km from Kaposvár to Balatonfüred - from Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) and Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates).
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) was 4th and Jakub Mareczko placed 5th; theAlpecin-Fenix rider benefitting from a lead-out from race leader Mathieu van der Poel, but becoming detached from him in the final kilometre.
Cavendish had full support from his team, as expected, and they muscled their way to the front in the final kilometres of the race. They held the first four positions in the line as they rounded the final roundabout with exactly 1km to go.
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Michael Mørkøv, the best lead-out man in pro cycling, took over as the last man to launch Cavendish and from that point the race was Cavendish's to lose. However, while Mørkøv once again delivered Cavendish to absolute perfection, nothing can take from the British rider's win.
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He hit the front very early in the gallop and while Demare and Gaviria looked like they may come around him, Cavendish did not falter and appeared to be able to maintain top speed all the way to the line after an effort of some 300 metres.
More to come.
