South African Nolan Hoffmann, representing his country's national team, took second place.

Gavazzi won the 160.9-kilometre (100-mile) stage in six hours, 48 minutes and 35 seconds and is also the overall race leader.

The seven-stage race began in Putrajaya, south of capital Kuala Lumpur, on Monday. It headed south to Malacca Tuesday, with the next stage taking place around the city before heading north to the Genting Highlands and ending on February 15 in Kuala Lumpur.

"To be honest I never thought that I'd get to win three times in a row in the early season of 2009," Gavazzi said.

"I kind of like the hot weather and manage to adapt to it," he added.

After the Malacca leg on Wednesday comes the longest stage, from the port city to the town of Bangi in central Selangor state, which covers 221.0 kilometres.

By the end of the race, the 20 teams taking part will have covered 1,031.7 kilometres and seven states.

Top 10 places in Stage 2:

1.   Mattia Gavazzi (ITA/Diquigiovanni-Androni) 3hr 42min 13sec, 2. Nolan Hoffman (RSA/South Africa National Team) s.t., 3. AurÚlien Clerc (SUI/AG2r LA Mondiale) s.t., 4. Christoff Van Heerden (RSA/South Africa National Team) s.t., 5. Hilton CLARKE (AUS/Fuji-Servetto) s.t., 6. Denys Kostyuk (UKR/ISD) s.t., 7. RenÚ Haselbacher (AUT/Vorarlberg-Corratec) s.t., 8.8 11 JPN 19840922 Yukiya Arashiro (JPN/BBOX Bouygues Telecom) s.t., 9. Hossien Nateghi (IRI/Iran National Team) s.t., 10. Miyataka Shimizu (JPN/EQA-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design) s.t.

Top 10 places overall:

1.   Mattia Gavazzi (ITA/Diquigiovanni-Androni) 6hr 48min 35sec, 2. Nolan Hoffman (RSA/South Africa National Team) 6hr 48min 45sec 3. Alexandr Pliuschin (MDA/AG2r La Mondiale) 6hr 48min 46sec, 4. Dmitriy Gruzdev (KAZ/Kazakhstan National Team) 6hr 48min 48sec, 5. Chris Sutton (AUS/ Garmin Slipstream) 6hr 48min 49sec, 6. Jaco Venter (RSA/South Africa National Team) s.t., 7. Oscar Munoz (ESP/Cervelo Test Team) s.t., 8. Mohammad Akmal Amrun (MAS/MNCF Cycling Team) 6hr 48min 50sec, 9. AurÚlien Clerc (SUI/AG2r LA Mondiale) 6hr 48min 51sec, 10. Christian Meier (CAN/Garmin Slipstream) 6hr 48min 54sec.