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Giro d'Italia 2018: Stage 2

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The minutes are ticking down to the start of stage 2. The sun is out in Haifa, with the sprinters ready to win the sprint in Tel Aviv.

After Friday's time trial, the overall classification already has an interesting shape with stage winner Tom Dumoulin in the leader's pink jersey.

The riders are a little worried about possible cross winds and echelons along the coast road to Tel Aviv.

From the Cyclingnews blimp we can see the riders roll out of Haifa for the neutralised start.

Haifa is third largest city in Israel. The riders cover a loop north before turning south and along the coast to Tel Aviv.  

Chris Froome lost 37 seconds to Dumoulin in the TT after his recon crash. However he was smiling at the start today.

Froome rolled out of the start at the back of the peloton but is moving up to join his Team Sky teammates.

Tom Dumoulin lined up at the front in the pink jersey. As 2017 winner, he also wears number 1.  

Froome has moved up to the front and is sat safely on teammate Christian Knees' wheel.

First flat of the day for Matteo Montaguti. He is quickly away.

Due to the logistics of the start in Israel, teams don't have team buses and so got changed in the open. 

The riders face 11.9km neutralised before the official stage start. That means they face 178.9km in the saddle. 

Here we go! 

Technical race director Stefano Allocchio drops the flag from the race director's car and the race is on/

The peloton is immediately lined out, the speed is up. 

Lots of riders are trying to get away but Quick-Step Floors riders and Team Sunweb riders are marking the moves.

Davide Ballerini of Androni is off the front alone, trying to open a gap. 

The peloton seems to have eased and spread across the road. This could be the early break of the day.

The other two riders are from Lotto Soudal and Israel. 

160km remaining from 167km

Gruppo compatto but Ballerini tries again.

Ballerini is joined by Lars Bak of Soudal, with Niv trying to join them. 

There is an intermediate sprint with points and time bonuses on offer after just 22km. 

The peloton is spread across the road. Niv is struggling to go across to Ballerini and Bak after his earlier effort. 

150km remaining from 167km

The race in Acres for the intermediate sprint. they will then turn east and then south towards Tel Aviv.  

During today's stage, 13 time bonus seconds are up for grabs in the individual overall classification. A maximum of 90 points are available for the points classification and the first 3 points for the King of the Mountains competition.

The peloton seems ready to leave the two out front until after the sprint. We could then see a change in the break and the chase.

Sagiv of Israel Cycling Academy flats and gets a new rear wheel.

144km remaining from 167km

The peloton is riding carefully, helping the break extend its gap slightly.

Crash!

A touch of wheels on narrow roads sparks a crash in the peloton. 

Nobody is hurt or slowed very much, with all the riders eventually getting going.

Here comes the intermediate sprint.

Ballerini surges slightly after speaking to Bak and so crosses the line first at the intermediate sprint.

There's a real sprint behind, as they fight for the points. 

Viviani takes it, scoring 8 points in the battle for the ciclamino jersey.

Here comes Guillaume Boivin. He joins Ballerini and Bak. 

Boivin breathes deep but takes a turn on the front.

135km remaining from 167km

Victor Campenaerts is on the move. He's trying to join the break and Soudal teammate Bak.

The Euro TT champion is only 2 seconds behind Dumoulin and so could take he pink jersey if he takes the bonuses at the second intermediate sprint.

However BMC for Dennis and Sunweb for Dumoulin are chasing.

128km remaining from 167km

Sunweb have four riders on the front protecting Dumoulin's pink jersey.

Other teams and their leaders are also moving up in case the wind blows.

Team Sky has gathered together to protect Froome. 

Dumoulin stops for a natural break and so the peloton eases, respecting the unwritten rules of the peloton.

125km remaining from 167km

Campenaerts appears to have eased up and been caught by the peloton.

121km remaining from 167km

Viviani does some multi-tasking: He takes a natural break as a mechanic changes a wheel after a flat. 

115km remaining from 167km

This is the first image of the break of the day.

Bak is wearing the new grey Lotto colours chosen for the Giro.

110km remaining from 167km

108km remaining from 167km

Quick-Step and Wilier have also placed a rider on the front to help with the chase. 

103km remaining from 167km

BMC has a rider helping with the work on the front. They want to perhaps protect Dennis' second place in the hope he takes pink in the next few stages.

100km remaining from 167km

There was lots of interest in Chris Froome at the start after his crash and time loss on Friday. 

Dumoulin rolled to the start in pink, with matching sunglasses, helmet and pink touches on his shorts.

Dumoulin raced the TT in his world champion's rainbow jersey. 

93km remaining from 167km

The riders are heading into the southwest cross/head wind and so the riders are pacing their effort.

BMC have hit the front of the peloton and upped the pace. The gap is down to 1:20.

The BMC speed has lined out the peloton but the trip up front are just hoping to stay away until the only climb of the day and the second intermediate sprint. 

BMC seem determined to chase down the break.

Everyone else in the peloton is fighting for the best wheels behind BMC as they ride into a headwind and near the only 4 cat climb of the day.

The peloton passes through the feed zone, grabbing their musette. 

81km remaining from 167km

80km remaining from 167km

Crash!

On the left turn off the highway, two riders go down in the squeeze.

The break is on the climb. 

First to the top gets the blue mountains jersey.

The peloton is close to catching them.

The trio keep attacking each other and are joined by a Bardiani ride.  

Sadly there are some crazy fans running in the road with the break.

The Bardiani rider is fresher and gets a gap on Boivin. 

The peloton is just behind them at the summit.  

Enrico Barbin of Bardiani was the first to the summit and so will pull on the blue climber's jersey at the finish in Tel Aviv.

75km remaining from 167km

Mitch Docker of EF has bike problem and stops on the fast descent to the coast. 

We will soon find out exactly how fast the coastal wind will blow. 

71km remaining from 167km

This is how crazy and how dangerous the crowds were on the climb. Despite the personal on the climb to control the crowds, lots of people tried to run with the riders.

The speed is high in the race as the second intermediate sprint nears.

BMC are trying to lead out Dennis so he can win it and so take the pink jersey. 

Viviani and Quick-Step are tucked in behind BMC.

63km remaining from 167km

Watch out for Victor Campenaerts of Lotto.

Here we go. BMC up the speed even more.

Dennis kicks hard and early. He holds off Viviani.

Dennis is now virtual race leader now. 

Tom Dumoulin had hinted he and Team Sunweb would not defend the race lead but few expected Dennis to take pink today. 

However BMC chased down the early break, lead out Dennis and then the Australian produced a good sprint. 

Dennis is congratulated by teammate Nicolas Roche. Now he has to finish with the sprinters and the peloton to take the pink jersey from Dumoulin.  

56km remaining from 167km

The peloton is being amused by two riders dressed in pink body suits, riding a tandem. 

This is the screen grab of the pink tandem duo that road on the other side of the highway, alongside the peloton.

In the virtual Gc, Dennis now leads Dumoulin by 1 second, with Campenaerts third at 3 seconds.

If Dennis pulls on the pink, he'll have worn the leader's jersey in each of three Grand Tours. 

47km remaining from 167km

Bora is working for Sam Bennett's chances in the sprint.

Fabio Aru's UAE team is close to the front as the cross wind lines out the peloton and pushes it across to the rider's left side of the road. 

The wind is definitely a cross/head wind from the left, from the seafront. 

Boivin is trying punch his way into the headwind but the peloton is keeping him at 50 seconds.  

36km remaining from 167km

33km remaining from 167km

30km remaining from 167km

27km remaining from 167km

23km remaining from 167km

The surf is up near Tel Aviv, confirming there is a sea breeze. But it is not enough to split the peloton. 

20km remaining from 167km

Elia Viviani and his Quick-Step Floors is expected to dominate the lead out but the Italian faces some serious competition from Sam Bennett (Bora), Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Triestina), Andrea Guardini (Bardiani),  Ryan Gibbons (Dimension Data), Sacha Modolo (EF), Danny van Poppel (LottoNL) and Jens Debusschere (Lotto).  

We can expect Quick-Step to take control and try to lead out the sprint but other teams will try to ambush them in the final with micro-trains of 2/3 riders. 

The final 5km includes 5 tight city-centre corners, including the final right turn with less than a kilometre to go.

Boivin has been swept up as Sky keep the pace high to protect Froome. 

10km remaining from 167km

Riders are only given the same time as the stage winner if they crash in the final 3km.  

The teams are fighting for position to protect their team leaders and to lead out their sprinters.

7km remaining from 167km

LottoNL hit the front for van Poppel. No sign of Quick-Step yet. 

Tony Martin leads for Katusha but they lack a likely stage winner.

Mechanical problem for Poels. He could lose time today.

5km remaining from 167km

3km remaining from 167km

A tight right turn lines out the peloton.

The sprint teams are hesitating. 

1km remaining from 167km

Here comes Quick-Step for Viviani.

Stybar leads it into the final km.  

They swing left into the finishing 600m.

EF lead it out. 

Mareczko leads it out early but Viviani comes on the barriers!

Viviani wins the sprint!

Viviani seemed stuck behind after losing his lead out but he had the speed and skill to find a way through and past his rivals to win by several bike lengths.  

Viviani was smart enough to jump on Mareczko's wheel as he came through and got a great lead out. He then opened up his after burners and won it well. 

Viviani beat Jakub Mareczko and Sam Bennett. 

Rohan Dennis is confirmed as the new race leader after he took three seconds at the second intermediate sprint.

Watching the replays of the sprint reveal just how smart and collected Viviani was. His track skills made a difference today.

This is the top ten on the stage: 

This is the new GC: 

Viviani dedicated his win to his partner Elena Cecchini. 

"This win is for Elena, she really believed in me when we talked last night and so this win is for her," Viviani said. 

Viviani gets the cheers on the podium and then opens the prosecco in celebration.

Speaking briefly before pulling on the pink jersey, Rohan Dennis admitted that he was happy Viviani won the stage after he didn't sprint full gas in the intermediate sprint that gave Dennis pink.   

Dennis pulls on the pink jersey on the podium and also celebrates.

Viviani returns to the podium to take the ciclamino points jersey. He is with one of Michele Scarponi's young sons, who were invited to the Giro. 

Dennis revealed on Italian television that he didn’t want the pressure of sprinting for the bonus seconds but didn’t want to let his teammates down. 

 

We have the first photos of the sprint finish and Viviani's celebrations.  

Rohan Dennis said he was honoured to be in pink and complete his collection of Grand Tour leader's jerseys. But he kept his feet on the ground.

Dennis thanks his BMC teammates and Viviani for not going full gas in the sprint.

Viviani was relieved to win after huge expectations on his shoulders.

Viviani said:

Viviani talk through the sprint as only a rider who was in the thick of it an. 

Here's the first photo of Rohan Dennis in pink via RCS Sport.  

Dennis understandably had a big smile on the podium.

This is the sprint from another angle, showing how Viviani won it well. 

To see other great photos from the stage, click here to read out full stage report and see our huge photo gallery.

The overall classification changed today with Rohan Dennis taking pink from Tom Dumoulin. However all the other GC contenders finished safely in the peloton.

Froome spoke briefly before the stage start. click here to read our story. 

Sunday’s 229km third stage is from Be’er Sheva to Eliat south through the Israel desert.

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