Tirreno-Adriatico (st. 2)

Full Movistar Team into main bunch on Tirreno's stage two, after big crash into the field with just 7km remaining. Kittel (TKA) takes bunch sprint victory; Bevin (BMC) now leads GC.

German sprinter Marcel Kittel (TKA) took the day’s win in the inevitable bunch kick at the end of stage two in the 2018 Tirreno-Adriatico (172km). The final circuit in Follonica did not make things easy for the bunch, though, proven by a mass crash into the final of three local laps, just seven kilometers from the end.

Despite not a single one of the Movistar Team riders being struck by the incident, all seven were initially left out of a lead group comprising barely thirty riders. The pursuit group took a big effort to bridge back and Landa, Amador and their team-mates were able to all finish inside a reconstructed group, with only cosmetic changes to the GC caused by the position countback.

New Zealand’s Paddy Bevin (BMC) becomes the new ‘Maglia Azzurra’ of the Italian race before Friday’s marathon stage three, a tough race with 239km and a tremendous uphill finish in Trevi, twice up the ‘muro’ of San Tommaso (final kilometer at 11.5%, slopes up to 20%).

Picture (c): Dario Belingheri / BettiniPhoto.net