Veteran Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi stripped the Giro d'Italia's pink jersey from Britain's Mark Cavendish after winning his second straight sprint Monday.
Cavendish, 23, came out of Saturday's opening team time trial in pink and kept the jersey after being narrowly pipped by the 35-year-old Petacchi Sunday.
But Petacchi's 20-second bonus for his second victory, ahead of America's Tyler Farrar and Italy's Francesco Gavazzi, put him top of the general classification.
Cavendish, Britain's first rider to don the coveted jersey, fell away well before the end and dropped down the standings.
Farrar is second overall, 8 seconds behind Petacchi, Michael Rogers of Australia third, 18 seconds back, and Thomas Lovkvist of Sweden fourth, also 18 seconds adrift.
Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong, riding in his first Giro, is 31 seconds back in fifth.
Petacchi now has 20 Giro stage wins - more than any other active rider.
Monday's stage was the last opportunity for sprinters before the northern mountains, though they will have a few chances later if they last that far.
Petacchi, who returned to racing this year after a controversial doping ban, holds the record for most stages in a single Giro: nine in 2004.
Back then the Ligurian rider was still challenging Mario 'Lion King' Cipollini, seven years older than him, for the title of Italy and the world's best sprinter.
Cipollini, who retired in 2005, set a record of 42 career Giro stage wins in 2003, beating a record set by cycling legend Alfredo Binda in 1933.
