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Team Sky’s Elia Viviani proved to the smartest of the sprinters, timing his run to the line to perfection to take out this first full stage of the 2015 Giro D’Italia.
The Italian went into the stage finish with no team around him but out-foxed the better supported favourites, Lotto-Soudal’s Andre Greipel and Orica GreenEdge’s Michael Matthews, who ran in third and seventh respectively.
Viviani drafted behind first Matthews and then second place winner Moreno Hofland (LottoNL-Jumbo), waiting until the last 50 meters to launch his sprint on the slight uphill finish.
It wasn’t all bleak for Matthews though as he managed to avoid a number of crashes to capitalise on Stage 1’s winning team time trial and take the pink overall leader’s jersey, repeating his memorable start to the 2014 Giro where he held the Maglia Rosa for the first week.
Being part of the final sprint was a feat in itself with numerous riders going down in the final 15 kilometers as the race grew more and more tense.
Australian national champion Henrich Haussler was among the riders who took a fall and general classification hopeful Dominico Pozovivo (AG2R-La Mondial) lost over a minute as the peloton splintered in the final kilometers.
Ultimately Pozovivo and his team paid the price for poor positioning in the bunch, a mistake not made by any of the other favourites whose teams were a constant presence at the front throughout the day’s race.
In the other classifications tour debutante Bert-Jan Lindeman managed to snag the King of the Mountain’s jersey while in the breakaway and Viviani’s win will put him to the top of the point’s classification.
Viviani’s win for team Sky could prove a blessing in disguise for Richie Porte’s general classification campaign, no doubt relieving some of the pressure on the team to gain results.
There is even a chance that Viviani could take another win with Stage 3 being a similar sprinter’s stage, although this time with a few more hills.
Another man hungry for a win will be Orica’s Michael Matthews who will be happy to be wearing pink but has to be disappointed with his Stage 2 showing, particularly after receiving such strong team support.
The young Australian holds himself to a high standard and he will be looking forward to attack another fast but tough stage.
The 2015 Giro D’Italia gets under way for real this evening with the Tour’s first full stage: a flat 177km drag from Albenga to Genoa. Join The Roar at 11:00pm (AEST) for live coverage and friendly banter.
Stage 2, which runs along Italy’s north-western coast, has plenty on offer, with both the red Sprinters and blue King of the Mountain jerseys up for grabs.
Ultimately though it will be a day for the sprinters, two intermediate sprint checkpoints followed by a small Category 4 climb and then a flat, mostly straight run into the finish line in Genoa.
The favourite to take the honours today has to be Lotto-Soudal’s Andre Gripel, who is the only one of the peloton’s real sprint superstars to turn up to this year’s Giro.
Lotto-Soudal are a well trained outfit and it will be no surprise if ‘The Gorilla’ takes his good classics form into today’s race.
However, heavy lies the crown of favourite and there are a number of names in the field who could emerge from the chaos that is a bunch sprint finish.
The Italian trio of Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida), Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) will all be hoping to give the local fans something to cheer about early in the race.
Equally Giant-Alpecin’s Luka Mezgec or even Team Sky’s Elia Viviani could seize the chance to take center stage while their team’s bigger names sit at home.
Of the Australian contingent, watch for Orica Green Edge to capitalise on their Team Time Trial win, control the stage and try to set things up for either Simon Gerrans or Michael Matthews at the finish line.
There is a very small chance that through the time bonuses on offer Green Edge could lose the Maglia Rosa they rode so hard for yesterday, so expect them to be on their toes at all times, to ensure they maintain their overall lead position.
On top of all the sprint contenders hoping to make their mark, look for the GC teams: Tinkoff Saxo, Sky, Etixx-Quickstep and Astana to be pushing towards the front of the peloton to avoid any of the crashes these early, flat out stages tend to produce in a Grand Tour.
So what does this all add up to? An unpredictable, potentially chaotic finish you do not want to miss.
So join us right here on The Roar from 11:00pm (AEST) for our live coverage of the 2015 Giro D’Italia Stage 2.
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