Tasmania's Matt Goss has won the 232km second stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico from San Vincenzo to Indicatore in a sprint to the finish overnight.
Goss, of the Orica-GreenEDGE team, beat home Italian Manuel Belletti, with German Gerald Ciolek taking third.
British rider Mark Cavendish (Omega-Pharma), who won the opening time trial on Wednesday, did enough by finishing fifth on the stage to retain the blue leader's jersey.
In the overall standings, Cavendish holds a two-second advantage over teammate Michal Kwiatkowski, with another Omega Pharma-Quickstep rider, Niki Terpstra in third, a second further back.
Tomorrow's stage is a 190km flat route from Indicatore to Narni Scalo.
The race ends next week with an individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.