Lucas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) wins stage one Giro d'Italia 2017.

Lucas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) wins first opening stage one in Olbia, Giro D Italia. He pulls on the Maglia Rosa after crossing the finish line ahead of the sprinters.

 Dramas, chaos as they say the Giro d’Italia breeds chaos like no other Grand Tour. News of two positive doping tests on Thursday ensured the continuation of that theme in the race’s 100th edition and, despite a relatively calm start to Friday’s opening stage. The Austrian, making his Grand Tour debut, was meant to be working for sprinter Sam Bennett or, failing the Irishman, for Matteo Pelucchi. In any case, the 206km leg from Alghero to Olbia, flat save for a trio of fourth-category climbs, was meant to end in a bunch kick and the pink the jersey on the shoulders of one of the peloton’s fastmen.

 But when Pöstlberger took up the reins with a couple of kilometres remaining, shortly after a crash had disrupted the bunch, a gap appeared between himself and Caleb Ewan’s Orica-Scott lead-out man. And it only got bigger, as Bennett urged his lead-out man to crack on over race radio. More splits emerged in the technical city streets and Pöstlberger did just that, carrying a healthy lead into the final few hundred metres – enough to sit up and celebrate in the final 100 metres.
 As he did so, the riders who everyone had been talking about enacted a somewhat futile sprint for second place, Ewan getting there ahead of Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) – all no doubt bitterly disappointed.

Top Ten opening stage one Giro d'Italia

 1, Lukas Pöstlberger (Australia) Bora-Hansgrohe 5:13:25,  
2, Caleb Ewan (Australia) Orica-Scott 0:00:04,   3, André Greipel (Germany) Lotto Soudal 0:00:06,  
4, Pavel Brutt (Russia) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:00:08,  
5, Giacomo Nizzolo (Italy) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:10,  
6, Sacha Modolo (Italy) UAE Team Emirates,
7, Kristian Sbaragli (Italy) Dimension Data,   
8, Jasper Stuyven (Belgium) Trek-Segafredo,
9, Ryan Gibbons (South Africa) Dimension Data,
10, Sam Bennett (Ireland) Bora-Hansgrohe