Lukas Postlberger kicks off Giro 100 with surprising win in chaotic sprint

In a strange turn of events, Grand Tour debutant, Bora-Hansgrohe's Lukas Postlberger, upset the formula and surprised the entire peloton with an impressive improvised victory on stage one of the 2017 Giro d'Italia.

Postlberger cruises over the finish line in Olbia to claim the maglia rosa
Credit: telegraph.co.uk

Postlberger, Bora-Hansgrohe's intended lead-out man for Ireland's Sam Bennett found himself a few bike lengths clear of his teammate with just over one kilometre to go and after a few looks behind just kept going, taking both the peloton and his own teammates by surprise by staying clear and cruising across the line while the sprinters desperately scrambled for second.

A slightly baffled Sam Bennett said the sprint didn't go to plan: "No, no, we were planning for the sprint but it was a really messy final and he's [Postlberger] found himself on the front and I just said 'go'! 

"Inside the last two kilometres he got a gap and just kept opening it up and then in the last kilometre I shouted over the mic, 'go for it, it's yours'! It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, unbelievable!" 

Orica-Scott's Caleb Ewan and Lotto-Soudal's Andre Greipel, pre-stage favourites for the win, battled in an isolated sprint for second and the former came out on top.

Being one of the longest in this year's race, stage one on Sardinia from Alghero to Olbia inevitably saw a breakaway early on; Mirco Maestri (Bardiani), Marcin Bialoblocki (CCC), Eritrean national champion Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe), Pavel Brutt (Gazprom) and Albianian national champion Eugert Zhupa (Willier Triestina-Selle Italia) were the riders leading as the peloton headed for Olbia. 

Benedetti would claim the first blue mountains jersey of Giro 100 after taking maximum points over all three categorised climbs on the stage - only the fourth time a rider had done so in the history of the Giro d'Italia, including the legendary five time winner, Alfredo Binda.

The break - now down to five after Maestri was dropped - stayed out for the vast majority of the 206km stage but had less than 54 seconds advantage with just 22km remaining and their fatigue was showing as the gap tumbled. 

The break's job may have been done for the day but they were determined not to be caught, working in formation to hold the time to the peloton and with ten km to go had 34 seconds of daylight. 

The escapees were finally reeled in with 3.6km remaining and the peloton turned their focus to the tricky technical sprint finish.

It was however in the last 1500 metres where the race descended into unknown territory. Postlberger appeared to check behind to find there was no teammate within a few metres of him, and instead of waiting, went for the solo victory, flabbergasting the commentators and leaving them wondering if the sprinters could actually catch the Austrian.

It became clearer and clearer however that Postlberger was just too strong and the gap of five metres soon became 50 and before too long the Bora-Hansgrohe rider was cruising over the finish line to take the first maglia rosa of the 2017 Giro in his debut. 

Stage two from Olbia to Tortoli will be a day for the fighters and perhaps another surprise winner. It's a longer day than today was at 220km and is much hillier meaning the sprinters will be conserving energy for an attempt at victory on stage three which promises flatter terrain.