American Tyler Farrar sprinted to his second stage victory in this year's Giro d'Italia on Tuesday to thwart a rare Italian attempt for home glory.

Astana's Alexandre Vinokourov kept hold of the leader's pink jersey after the 10th stage, still one minute 12 seconds ahead of Australian world champion Cadel Evans on his BMC.

The 230 km route from Avellino near the west coast to Bitonto on the east coast was the perfect opportunity for sprinters to impress despite the odd hill along the way.

After bad weather in recent days the sun also finally shone but this incident-packed Giro was still not short of drama.

A spectator fell from a high viewing point into a ditch at the finish, when the peleton was 15 kilometres from home, but the emergency was dealt with and the road was cleared in time for Garmin's Farrar to zoom across the line.

Farrar, who also claimed the second stage, edged out Italy's Fabio Sabatini to leave home riders still without a single non-team stage win so far this year.

Crashes, rain and unmade roads have made this Giro one of the hardest many competitors can remember having started in the Netherlands before winding its way down to sourthern Italy.

"If there is a chance to gain some seconds I will try tomorrow in Aquila," Kazakhstan's Vinokourov, who returned from a doping ban last year, told reporters.

"It's really tough, we expect very difficult stages on Saturday and Sunday (in the mountains)."

Wednesday's 11th stage is a 262km trip from Lucera to l'Aquila, the central city worst hit by a devastating earthquake last year.

The three-week Giro, the world's second biggest stage race after the Tour de France, ends in Verona on May 30.

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