Simon Yates claimed his fifth win at the Giro d'Italia as he triumphed in the short time-trial stage two in Budapest on Saturday.

Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), who managed silver at the 2020 Olympics, produced a breathless ride to displace Matteo Sobrero (BikeExchange-Jayco) with the first time trial under 12 minutes on the 9.2-kilometre course.

However, Dumoulin soon relinquished his lead when Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) breezed across the finish line in 11:50, five seconds faster than the 2017 Giro winner's initial benchmark.

Race leader Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) completed the time check just a second slower than Yates, but ultimately fell three seconds short of a second consecutive stage victory.

Dutchman Van der Poel, sporting the pink jersey after collecting stage-one honours in Visegrad, retains the Maglia Rosa, while Brit Yates climbs to second in the general classification standings.

While many suggested victory at stage two would lay down a marker for the rest of his competitors, Yates insists there is a long way to go in Italy.

"It doesn't really change anything for me, of course, really happy with the win but it was only a 12-minute effort," he told reporters.

"It's not going to be won over these 12 minutes I don't think, the next stages are going to be really different so let's stay calm and see what the next couple of days hold."

Yates was also quick to credit his team for their work.

"We put a lot of hard work into improving our equipment, looking back to October and November, we were really working hard on it and now we are seeing the results from it," he added.

"I have to thank our sponsors, they really helped me to get into a great position in the winter to refine that on the road, as well as help from my team."

Van der Poel keeps Maglia Rosa

Yates may have done significant early damage to his general classification rivals, but Van der Poel will keep the pink jersey. The Alpecin-Fenix rider becomes the third Dutchman to sport the Maglia Rosa in the first two stages after Erik Breukink in 1987 and Dumoulin in 2016.

STAGE RESULT 

1.Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco): 11:50

2.Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix): +0:03

3.Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma): +0:05

4.Matteo Sobrero (BikeExchange-Jayco): +0:13

5.Ben Tulett (Ineos Grenadiers): +0:13

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS 

General Classification

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 4:47:11

2. Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) +0:11

3. Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) +0:16

Points Classification

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 62

2. Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) 35

3. Peio Bilbao Lopez de Armentia (Bahrain Victorious) 25

King of the Mountains

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 3

2. Rick Zabel (Israel-Premier Tech) 3

3. Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) 2