Pogačar managed to cross the line two seconds clear of the rest and claimed his fifth victory of the season on the 202 kilometres course with a time of 4hrs 48mins 39secs.

"The team pulled all day so I thought it would be better if I’d give it a go," he mentioned. 

"We did everything right.

"It was like a mountain top finish today so it’s similar to last year when I took the lead on stage four. 

"Tomorrow it will be another stage like today’s and Saturday the queen stage so I still have to pay attention to the others."

The 23-year-old, who became the youngest cyclist to win an International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour race in 2019, celebrates the victory and thanks admirers for the support through his Instagram page.

Second place went to Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard, who currently rides for Jumbo-Visma, followed by Victor Lafay of France, riding for Cofidis, in third.

Pogačar is also the new "Maglia Azzurra" as the general classification leader, and in this classification leads Belgium's Remco Evenepoel of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team by nine seconds.

In third place is Filippo Ganna of Italy riding for the Ineos Grenadiers team, 21 seconds behind.

The Netherlands Thymen Arensman of Team DSM is fourth at 36 seconds, with Britain's Tao Geoghegan Hart of Ineos Grenadiers fifth at 43 seconds, and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma sixth at 45 seconds behind.

Colombia's Miguel Angel López Moreno of Astana Qazaqstan Team sits seventh at 50 seconds, while Pogačar’s compatriot Marc Soler of Spain is the only other rider within a minute, with Britain's Richie Porte of Ineos Grenadiers and The Netherlands Wilco Kelderman of Bora–Hansgrohe rounding out the top 10 in the general classification.

The competition is set to continue tomorrow with a 155km route from Sefro to Fermo.