Italian Riccardo Ricco of the Saunier Duval team threw down the gauntlet to his rivals for the Giro d'Italia's pink jersey by sprinting home in stage two.
He upped the tempo late on, overhauling Danilo Di Luca and Davide Rebellin on the uphill sprint finish in Agrigento.
Liquigas rider Franco Pellizotti came fourth but took the overall lead from American Christian Vandevelde - who had led after Saturday's time trial.
Charly Wegelius led home the British contingent in 64th position.
He was 54 seconds behind the winner, while David Millar crossed the line in 102nd, two minutes, four seconds off Ricco.
Geraint Thomas came in 136th (at 7:46), Steven Cummings 138th (at 7:55), Mark Cavendish 153rd and Bradley Wiggins 158th (both at 11:40).
606: DEBATE
"It's great to have the jersey but I want to wear it in Milan as well. That's my big objective," Pellizotti said.
"We did a great team time trial yesterday and so I knew I could get the jersey. It was a tough stage because there was a lot of climbing and the finish caused some gaps."
Stage Two result:
1. Riccardo Ricco (ITA/SDV) 5hr 48min 35sec
2. Danilo Di Luca (ITA/LPR) same time
3. Davide Rebellin (ITA/GST) s.t.
4. Franco Pellizotti (ITA/LIQ) s.t.
5. Paolo Savoldelli (ITA/LPR) s.t.
6. Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP/GCE) s.t.
7. Jussi Veikkanen (FIN/FDJ) at four seconds
8. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) at eight seconds
9. Leonardo Piepoli (ITA/SDV) s.t.
10. Andreas Kloeden (GER/AST) s.t.
Overall Standings (after 2 of 21 stages):
1. Franco Pellizotti, Italy, 6 hours, 15 minutes, 16 seconds
2. Christian Vandevelde, United States, 1 second behind
3. Chris Sorensen, Denmark, at seven seconds
4. Danilo Di Luca, Italy, same time
5. Morris Possoni, Italy, at eight seconds
6. Vincenzo Nibali, Italy, same time
7. Nicki Sorensen, Denmark, at 17 seconds
8. Bradley McGee, Australia, same time
9. Kanstantsin Siutsou, Belarus, at 18 seconds
10. Paolo Savoldelli, Italy, at 19 seconds
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~04~RS~)