Italy's Simone Cadamuro won the 178.5km second stage of the Tour of Benelux between Geldrop and Sittard on Friday.

The Domina Vacanze rider prevailed in a sprint with Liquigas-Bianchi teammates Marco Zanetti and Enrico Gasparotto.

Max van Heeswijk (Discovery Channel), winner of Thursday's first stage, held on to the leader's red jersey, extending his lead over Belgian Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step) to three seconds.

In rainy conditions French duo Rony Martias (Bouygues Telecom) and Fabien Sanchez (Française des Jeux) tried to slip the main pack, at one point building up a six-minute cushion. After they were reeled in, Italian rider Manuel Quinziato (Saunier Duval-Prodir) hit the front around Sittard, only to be caught in the final 35 meters by a group of sprinters.

The slippy cobblestones of Sittard made for hazardous conditions with a spate of falls marring the closing stages.

Saturday's stage is a 206.3km run between Beek and Landgraaf.

Stage 2 results
1. Simone Cadamuro (I), Domina Vacanze, 4:14:48
2. Marco Zanotti (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, same time
3. Enrico Gasparotto (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, s.t.
4. Manuel Quinziato (I), Saunier Duval-Prodir, s.t.
5. Stefan van Dijck (Ned), MrBookmaker, s.t.
6. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est), Crédit Agricole, s.t.
7. Allan Davis (Aus), Liberty Seguros, s.t.
8. Uros Murn (Slo), Phonak, s.t.
9. Giosue Bonomi (I), Lampre-Caffita, s.t.
10. Patrick Calcagni (Swi), Liquigas-Bianchi, s.t.

Overall
1. Max van Heeswijk (Ned), Discovery Channel, 8:41:37
2. Rik Verbrugghe (B), Quick Step, at 0:03
3. Gert Steegmans (B), Davitamon-Lotto, at 0:12
4. Kevin van Impe (B), Chocolade Jacques, at 0:13
5. Carlos Barredo (Sp), Liberty Seguros, s.t.
6. Roger Hammond (GB), Discovery Channel, s.t.
7. Stefan van Dijck (Ned), MrBookmaker, s.t.
8. Bram Schmitz (Ned), T-Mobile, at 0:15
9. Jurgen van den Broeck (B), Discovery Channel, s.t.
10. Michael Blaudzun (Den), Team CSC, at 0:16.