Zdenek Stybar takes Tirreno-Adriatico lead by winning stage two

Zdenek Stybar took the overall lead of Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy after escaping to a solo victory on stage two.

The Etixx-Quick-Step rider attacked close to the summit of the day's final climb, with 2.8km to go, and hung on to win by less than one second.

World champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) edged out Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) in the sprint for second place.

Stybar received 10 bonus seconds for his win and consequently climbs to the top of the general classification, nine seconds ahead of BMC Racing pair Greg Van Avermaet in second and Tejay van Garderen in third.

Stybar said: "It was a good stage for me. I didn't plan to go there, but I saw free space and I thought, 'OK, I will go with everything I have'."

The seven-day race continues on Friday with a 176km third stage from Castelnuovo Val di Cecina to Montalto di Castro.

Stage two result

1. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step, 5:10:03

2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff, same time

3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data, st

4. Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale, st

5. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, st

General classification

1. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step, 5:33:50

2. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing, +9sec

3. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing, same time 

4. Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing, st

5. Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing, st