Another day and another Italian denied Peter Sagan.

After Astana Pro Team's Andrea Guardini had pipped the freshly-minted world champion in the final metres of The ADNOC Stage from Qasr Al Sarab to Madinat Zayed on Day One another Italian Elia Viviani upstaged the Slovakian just inches away from the finish line to land The Capital Stage of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour.

Sagan had darted ahead to the front with 150 metres to go and with the finish line in sight. But the 26-year-old Viviani cleverly waited before going all out. In a move identical to what Guardini had done Team Sky sprinter Viviani went to the left of Sagan before pulling away to win on a Friday which saw two crashes and a disqualification.

It was his eighth stage win this season after victories in the Dubai Tour Giro d'Italia Eneco Tour and the Tour of Britain.

Viviani took over the Red Jersey (General Classification by time) and also the Green Jersey (General Classification by points from Guardini. He also leads the race with two Stages still left in the first edition with Guardini pushed to second. Tinoff-Saxo's Sagan is third in the overall classification four seconds adrift.

Sagan finished second to Viviani in the Stage while Etixx-Quick Step team recovered from Tom Boonen's loss with Fabio Sabatini finishing third.

The UAE's very own Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team continued to impress with Moroccan Soufiane Haddi finishing fourth. Skydive Dubai's Andrea Palini had also finished fourth in the first Stage. The 24-year-old Haddi also won an Intermediate Sprint during the day.

Meanwhile Bora-Argon 18's Paul Voss was disqualified from the Tour after he had a verbal disagreement with Federico Zurlo (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) during an intermediate sprint. German Voss had won the Black Jersey (Intermediate Sprint Jersey Classification) in the first Stage.

Viviani termed the UAE a lucky country. "It's a lucky place for me" said Viviani who had won one stage on the Dubai Tour. "Those two races are at different moments of the season. I was lucky to be able to do Dubai just before the Track World Championships and Abu Dhabi just after the Road World Championships. So I came into both races with good form. We were disappointed yesterday because I was in a bad position and it was hard to work at the front to catch the breakaway with only six riders. But today we did a really good job" he added.

The Capital Stage started at the Yas Marina and looped out to the Zayed Sport City Stadium and then out to the Emirates Palace before finishing at the Yas Mall.

Meanwhile Sagan was happy for his former Liquigas-Doimo teammate. "I took it a bit easy in the first Stage and was relaxed. Earlier Viviani was my teammate so I'm happy for him. Today was much better. Also it was a short stage" said Sagan who took the White Jersey. The most difficult Stage of the Tour - The Al Ain Stage the only climb Stage takes place on Saturday.

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