Elia Viviani won the opening stage of the Giro di Reggio Calabria after winning the bunch sprint for the line in Chiaravalle Centrale.

The Liquigas-Cannondale rider had been in fine form already in 2012 with two victories, and added a third as he beat Daniele Collie (Team Type 1-Sanofi) and Elia Favili (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) to the line at the end of the 170km stage.

A five-man breakaway consisting of Rafael Andriato (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia), Antonio Parrinello (Androni Giocattoli), Gianluca Maggiore (Utensilnord Named), Vegard Stake Laengen (Team Type 1-Sanofi) and Andrea Palini (Team Idea) looked set to steal the glory as they built a two minute lead deep into the second half of the day.

But the peloton caught them up with 30km to go, setting the stage for the sprinters to fight it out over the closing stretch.

Eurosport