Vincenzo Nibali wins Tour de France stage two in Sheffield

Astana rider Vincenzo Nibali broke away from the pack in the final kilometres to win the second stage of the Tour de France in Sheffield this afternoon.

The Italian decided to go for broke and it paid off as the other contenders, that included Chris Froome and Alberto Contador, couldn't catch up.

© AFP

Nibali's victory sees him claim the overall lead and yellow jersey with a total time of nine hours, 52 minutes and 43 seconds for tomorrow's final English stage between Cambridge and London.

Froome and Contador, among others, are just two seconds adrift in the overall leaderboard.

Giro d'Italia champion Nibali becomes the first reigning Italian champion to win a Tour de France stage since Salvatore Commesso in 1999.