Italy's rising star Damiano Cunego edged out Australian Bradley McGee in a sprint finish to win the second stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling race.

McGee reclaimed the pink jersey of race leader thanks to a 12-second time bonus and leads Yaroslav Popovych of Ukraine by 32 seconds.

McGee, of the Fdjeux.com team, won the prologue time trial on Saturday but slipped to second after Sunday's first stage.

Cunego, McGee and Cristian Moreni of Italy, third, fought out the finish after a group of about 35 riders moved clear on the final climb of the hilly 184-km stage.

Cunego, a 22-year-old teammate of defending Giro champion Gilberto Simoni with Saeco, captured his first stage victory at the Giro and his sixth this season.

He completed the distance in four hours, 37 minutes, 9 seconds.

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