Tirreno-Adriatico: Debusschere wins stage 2 in Cascina

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Jens Debusschere (Lotto-Soudal) won the second stage at Tirreno-Adriatico in a crash-marred bunch sprint in Cascina. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) was second and Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) third, with riders from Giant-Alpecin and Team Sky going down in the crash.

The relatively short and relatively flat stage was dominated by a seven man escape group which got away only five kilometres into the day and stayed away until only 15 km from the finish. They took the points on the two small climbs, which came very early on in the 153 kilometres from Camaiore to Cascina.

A crash in the closing meters reduced the field to about a dozen sprinters, as Elia Viviani (Team Sky) appeared to touch wheels with Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep). Cavendish didn’t go down but Viviani did, leaving great quantities of skin on the road. He took some time to get back to his feet, although he was able to cross the line on his bike to ensure his continuation in the race.

“It was really hectic today. No one could make a proper lead-out, and we managed to punch ourselves into the Etixx lead-out train. I have to thank all of my teammates,” said Debusschere, the reigning Belgian nation road champion, after the stage. “I think after the Belgian championships, this is the nicest victory in my career.”

Adriano Malori retained the overall lead, while the time bonuses moved Sagan up to second place, on the same time as the Italian. Fabian Cancellara (Trek) drops to third.

How it unfolded

A group of six riders got away shortly after the start. Edoardo Zardini (Bardiani CSF), Danilo Wyss (BMC), Cristiano Salerno (Bora-Argon 18), Jorge Camilo Castiblanco (Colombia), Carlos Quintero (Colombia), and Martijn Keizer (LottoNL-Jumbo) were soon joined by Patrick Konrad (Bora-Argon 18). It was a good combination and the seven soon built up a lead of more than six minutes.

The only bumps on the road were two category three climbs early on, actually two climbs of the same mountain at Pitoro. The first time around, at km 12.7, the Points went to Wyss, Quintero, Konrad and Zardini. The second time, at km 36.3, there was only a minor change in the line-up, as this time Quintero was ahead of Wyss, Konrad and Zardini.

After 50 km, the gap was six minutes, but that was too much for the sprinter teams on this relatively short stage. They turned on the gas, and after 62 km, the gap had fallen dramatically, to 2:56. Etixx-QuickStep and Tinkoff-Saxo led the chase.

It was 1:28 as the peloton started on the two laps of the closing circuit course, and the field was careful not to catch the group too early, keeping the gap at about a minute. With 31 kilometres to go, Zardini jumped from the lead group with Quintero and Salerno joining him. The trio still had 46 seconds as they entered the final lap but were caught by the field within the next five kilometers.

There were several crashes in the finale, the first came at the penultimate crossing of the finish line and then again with some 12 km to go. Tinkoff-Saxo moved to the front of the peloton after the latter crash, keeping the tempo high to prevent any further escapes. Stybar was at the head of the field in the final 2 km, before realizing he had no teammates in the area. MTN-Qhubeka was very prominent as well, leading the way under the flamme rouge.

Within sight of the finish line, though, Viviani looked to ride up Cavendish’ rear wheel, bringing down a number of riders and blocking the rest of the field. A dozen riders or so avoided the incident and went for the sprint, with Debusschere powering his way easily in for the win.

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