Hello and welcome to live coverage of stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia - a 221km rolling ride from Olbia to Tortoli on the island of Sardinia.

The leaders are approaching that Cat.2 climb to Nuoro with Teklehaimanot - who looks to have been struggling with cramps - setting the tempo in pursuit of those KOM points.

A dicey moment for the break, three of whom almost come a cropper on a tight right-hand bend - most notably Simone Andreeta, whose wheel slid ominously. Luckily none of them hit the deck, and they continue on their way.

That dig by Astana has woken the peloton from its slumber and seen the advantage of the five escapees come down to 3:05.

Astana have now come to the front of the peloton to apply some pressure on this descent to the foot of the first categorised climb. Perhaps they're thinking about their man Luis Leon Sanchez, who is a good bet for today's win.

Daniel Teklehaimanot is the most experienced and successful rider in this break. The Eritrean is 28, is riding his fifth Grand Tour (but debut Giro) and has nine pro wins to his name - albeit primarily in the Eritrean national championships. The others stats are such: Italy's Simone Andreetta (23, no wins, second Giro), Russia's Evgeny Shalunov (25, four wins, Grand Tour debut), Belarus' Ilia Koshevoy (26, one win, second Giro, fourth Grand Tour), Poland's Lukasz Owsian (27, no wins, second Giro).

The leaders have passed through the feed zone with a gap of 3:55 and are now grappling with their musettes ahead of this long descent to the foot of the next climb.

The pink jersey, Lukas Postlberger, must have stopped for a call of nature because, while his Bora-Hansgrohe team are on the front of the pack, with the blue jersey of Cesare Benedetti setting the tempo, the Australian is riding in the middle of the peloton. The LottoNL-Jumbo team of Steven Kruijswijk is near the front, as are the eight-man team of Astana - without local rider Fabio Aru and the late Michele Scarponi. Postlberger, it's worth adding, leads the GC by 4 seconds over Caleb Ewan, with Andre Greipel in third at 6 seconds. These splits stem from the bonus seconds of 10, 6 and 4 awarded at the line.

The average speed so far today is a lamentable 32.459 km/h. The terrain is clearly responsible - despite not being a mountain stage, today still features 4,000m of elevation gain. The gap is back to 4:20 for the five leaders as we approach the feed zone.

The leaders are riding through the scenic streets of Bitti over flag stones and underneath colourful bunting. The locals are out in their droves and there's a carnival atmosphere along the narrow streets. The gap is 3:55.

The gap has tumbled to 3:50 now as the leaders zip down a descent ahead of another uncategorised climb. We then have a long 12km drop down to the foot of the first categorised climb, the Cat.2 ascent to Nuoro.

Just to let you know, I'm Felix Lowe - the chap who writes the Blazin' Saddles blog on Eurosport's website, the Lasp Gasp column for Cyclist and, a few years back, the book 'Climbs and Punishment: Riding to Rome in the Footsteps of Hannibal'. If you'd like to get in touch and discuss any aspects of today's stage - or the 100th Giro in general - then do ping me a tweet @saddleblaze. Cheers!

Here's what Brian Smith - aka The Coach - thinks about today's stage, which he reckons is going to be contested by a reduced bunch sprint after that final climb.

It's the Bora-Hansgrohe team of surprise pink jersey Lukas Postlberger who are setting the tempo on the front of the peloton, some 4:45 down on the five leaders. Debutant Postlberger became the first rider since Oscar Freire to win the first Grand Tour stage of his career. He also became only the third Australian Grand Tour stage winner after Georg Toschnig and Max Bulla. He's also the first rider to take the Maglia Rosa on his first ever Grand Tour stage since Enrico Gasparotto in 2007.

A quick acceleration of pace from Teklehaimanot sees the Eritrean dart clear and take maximum points in the intermediate sprint. Perhaps he mistook it for the summit of a climb? Who knows - although it does now put him above Caleb Ewan in the Maglia Ciclamino standings, so the Dimension Data rider could be spreading his butter far and wide. Should he fail to get the Maglia Azzurra today then he could be wearing the cyclamen jersey by default - provided Postlberger stays in pink. It's all very hypothetical at the moment because the points over the finish will jiggle everything up even more. Either way, Teklehaimanot is the virtual maglia rosa for now - he leads Owsian of CCC by three seconds on GC.

A note on the weather: the sun has burnt off all the clouds and haze and the race is being played out under blue skies now in Sardinia.

We're live on Eurosport now with the mellifluous honey-tongued tones of Sean Kelly and Rob Hatch on comms as this five-man break ride with a gap of 6:15 over the pack. They broke clear after just 6km today and the pace is slow once again - primarily because of the rolling roads, gradual uphill gradient and a gentle headwind. Remember, you can watch the Giro for just £5.99 by subscribing to the Eurosport Player - or pay £29.99 and get all three Grand Tours and every other race of the season...

The gap is down to a Charlotte Gainsbourg-ish 5:55 for the five-man break of Oswian, Koshevoy, Teklehaimanot, Shalunov and Andreetta.

There are 195 riders left in the race out of a field which should have started as 198. But the tragic death of Michele Scarponi saw his Astana team opt to start with an eight-man team, while two Bardiani-CSF riders - Nicola Ruffoni and Stefano Pirazzi - were ejected because of a positive doping test prior to the 100th edition.

The crash near the finale yesterday meant some big name riders conceded time yesterday, including Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk of LottoNL-Jumbo: "I was just behind the crash with 3km to go and there was a gap so I lost 13 seconds. That's what happens, but it's the first day and I'm happy I stayed upright. I feel really good and I will be waiting until Mount Etna (stage 4) to show myself." Another GC rider who missed out was Frenchman Pierre Rolland of Cannondale-Drapac, who conceded 18 seconds.

We spoke to Dimension Data's Nathan Haas this morning and the Australian - fourth in Amstel Gold - reckons today's stage will be more about who goes out the back rather than off the front. There are, after all, around 4,000m of climbing on the menu... Nathan Haas: "Absolutely, the stage suits me. We're not here to lick stamps. I have the heart and the legs for it. I don't think anyone is going to have to do anything special today. It's going to be a battle of attrition - a race not off the front but off the back."

After around 36km or racing the gap for the five leaders is up to 6:20. The road has been going up gradually although this is not an official climb. Indeed, the stage started on the coast but the riders are already around 500m above sea level, riding along a plateau towards the first intermediate sprint. Such is the rolling terrain that many don't believe the top sprinters will still be around at the finish: the Cat.2 climb of Genna Silana comes with 45km remaining and is followed by some rolling roads, a fast descent and then a flat 10km run into the finish. It's tough to call.