Italian sprint ace Alessandro Petacchi won the first stage of the Tour of Italy on Sunday, a 143km ride from Genoa, for his seventh career victory in Italy's premier race.
Germany's Olaf Pollack finished second and the 12 second bonus allowed him to take over the leader's pink jersey from Australia's Bradley McGee, who won Saturday's prologue.
Petacchi, 30, effectively carried on from where he left off in last year's Tour where he collected six stages as he won a mass sprint to the line which saw his predecessor as Italy's sprint king "Super" Mario Cipollini finish a disappointing 14th.
Petacchi, though, had to make a huge effort to get the victory as the Fassa Bortolo rider had to overhaul Australian Robbie McEwen, who had stolen a march on him down the finishing straight.
However McEwen was unable to repel first Petacchi and then Pollack and found himself relegated to fourth by Italy's Crescenzo D'Amore.
"The sprint wasn't easy and I didn't think I was going to win when I saw McEwen go past with 200m to go because he takes a lot of risks and he is really strong," Petacchi said.
"There is a lot of pressure on me because the team has been built around me. I've already said that the aim in the Tour is to win three stages."
Cipollini vowed he would make up for his failure to win the stage.
"I wasn't beaten today, because I decided to give up on the sprint as I was blocked," said the man fondly known as the "Lion King" for his long blonde curls.
"People will just have to wait a little bit longer for me to win a stage."
McGee's camp also sounded a defiant note, vowing to reclaim the overall lead on Monday.
"We had thought of everything apart from Pollack getting second place in the stage," said his team sporting director Martial Gayant.
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