CYCLING:WORLD CHAMPION Mark Cavendish secured his earliest victory in a Grand Tour yesterday by clinching the first road stage of the Giro d'Italia in an uphill sprint.

“It’s a new team (Sky) for me this year, some of the riders here hadn’t worked with me before as a squad, but races like these Grand Tours are the ones I thrive in,” said Cavendish. “I’ve never won a stage so early before and that’s a great sign.”

The Briton’s fifth victory of the season, eighth in the Giro and 26th in a Grand Tour, came ahead of Australian Matt Goss, who finished second behind Cavendish at the world championships last year in Denmark. France’s Geoffrey Soupe was third.

Cavendish was guided through the bunch to 200 metres to the line by Welsh team-mate Geraint Thomas before making his final acceleration for the line.

The Giro d’Italia has a third and final stage today in Denmark before returning to Italy tomorrow. Commemoration ceremonies will take place for Belgium’s Wouter Weylandt, killed in a crash on stage three of the Giro last year.

Meanwhile, Eurocycles team riders Adam Armstrong and Conor Murphy had confidence boosts prior to this month’s An Post Rás, winning stages of the Tour of Ulster over the weekend.

Armstrong got into a large break on the opening stage, then pushed ahead towards the finish with James Moss (Node 4 Giordana). He then outsprinted the British pro to the line, taking the first leader’s jersey.

Armstrong was unable to defend the lead in yesterday’s second stage, missing a break of 10 which gained one minute and six seconds on the peloton. However, his team-mate Murphy ensured the team had something to show for it, outsprinting Matt Higgins (Node 4 Giordana).