Irish rider Sam Bennett won stage two of the Vuelta a Espana after edging out Mads Pedersen in a sprint finish.
The Bora-Hansgrohe sprinter crossed the line in three hours 49 minutes and 34 seconds after the flat 171.1km ride from s’Hertogenbosch to Utrecht.
It was Bennett’s fourth stage win at the three-week Grand Tour.
Jumbo-Visma’s Mike Teunissen takes the race leader’s red jersey with team-mates Edoardo Affini and Sam Oomen second and third overall.
The initial part of the stage was livened up as Julius van den Berg, Thibault Guernalec, Jetse Bol, Xabier Mikel Azparren and Pau Miquel made an early breakaway and built a lead of around five minutes before being reeled in by the peloton.
Alpecin-Decuninck moved their way to the front, only for Euskaltel’s Luis Angel Mate to make a solo break with 45km to go. He stayed out in front for 24km before being caught.
The peloton stayed together with teams tussling for position ahead of the sprint and when stage favourite Tim Merlier was forced out of position, Bennett was able to emerge at the front of the bunch and beat former world champion Pedersen to the finish.
It is another flat ride for stage three on Sunday, with a 193.2km circuit in a loop around Breda. That will be the last of the three stages to be held in the Netherlands, before the race transfers to Spain on Tuesday.
Stage Two result
1. Sam Bennett (Ire/Bora-Hansgrohe) 3hrs 49mins 34secs
2. Mads Pedersen (Den/Trek-Segafredo) Same time
3. Tim Merlier (Bel/Alpecin-Deceuninck) Same time
4. Mike Teunissen (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) Same time
5. Pascal Ackerman (Ger/UAE Team Emirates) Same time
6. Daniel McLay (Gbr/Team Arkea Samsic) Same time
7. Itamar Einhorn (Isr/Israel-Premier Tech) Same time
8. Jake Stewart (Gbr/Groupama-FDJ) Same time
9. John Degenkolb (Ger/Team DSM) Same time
10. Kaden Groves (Aus/BikeExchange-Jayco) Same time
General classification after stage two
1. Mike Teunissen (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) 4hrs 14mins 14secs
2. Edoardo Affini (Ita/Jumbo-Visma) Same time
3. Sam Oomen (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) Same time
4. Primox Roglic (Slo/Jumbo-Visma) Same time
5. Sepp Kuss (USA/Jumbo-Visma) Same time
6 Robert Gesink (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) Same time
7. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/Ineos) +13 secs
8. Ethan Hayter (Gbr/Ineos) Same time
9. Pavel Sivakov (Fra/Ineos) Same time
10. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos) Same time
