BELFAST (Reuters) - German Marcel Kittel made a well-timed attack in the closing sprint to take a rain-soaked second stage of the Giro d'Italia on Saturday, as Orica-GreenEdge rider Michael Matthews claimed the pink jersey from team mate Svein Tuft.
Team Giant-Shimano sprinter Kittel made his move after the final hard bend to hit the front 150 metres from the line, taking his first Giro stage as some of the world's top cyclists took a tour through Northern Ireland's troubled past in a 219km-long ride that left Belfast and swept through County Antrim before finishing back in the capital.