We're here in Belfast for the first road stage of the 2014 Giro d'Italia. It's short and flat. not something I will strive on, but perhaps Steele can.

At the first intermediate sprint it was Kittel winning over Sagan. A sign of things to come? The Garmin rider is Lasse Norman Hansen.

And Hansen, riding in his first GT, managed to slot himself in the morning break directly after his attack in the sprint, making a group of 4 at the front.

Zardini took the mountain sprint and jersey over Hayden Roulston from the two 3rd cats on the court.

Nothing for me was really in the cards today unfortunately. I just relaxed and appreciated the fan support.

Lasse gave it all he had, but in the end, he and the rest of the break was caught at 15 km to go.

With 4 km to go Katusha looked to be the best sprint train, so Steele tagged along with them. Kittel's train was also getting organized, but FDJ and Cannondale were scrambling.

But Kristoff soon realized he had made a mistake when his leadout pulled off at 2 km to go, leaving him with no where to go but start sprinting. Meanwhile, Degenkolb left Kittel on Von Hoff's wheel. Sagan was trailing behind.

With 1 km to go Steele had done a fantastic job, but eventually he just couldn't hold the wheel, which sent Kittel springing towards the front.

And he went straight to it, leaving Kristoff in the dust.

And it was Marcel Kittel taking the first sprint of this years Giro. Steele did a great job to get the podium in 3rd, while I just came home with the pack.

But a lot of people didn't. in the final few km a group split off the back. In fact only 71 riders finished in front of it, and over 100 in this one, losing 1'58'', and it included several big names. From GC contenders, Basso, Pellizotti, Cunego, Kiserlovski, Wiggins, Ten Dam, Gesink and Schleck were all caught out. It will be hard to make up that time later on.

Tomorrow is the last stage before we go to Italy, as we head into Dublin. That is somewhere I might just want to take over leadership. See you there!

It's the final stage here in Ireland, and it looks like an easy sprinters stage. But perhaps I should make myself known for the fans!

A 3 man breakaway went away in the morning, as usual.

But the stage wasn't as normal as it would seem, with 50 km still to go. A group of 60 riders, including Ten Dam and Scarponi, was just gone. Not from wind, but pure pace.

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And only 10 km later, another group went off the back! Only about 100 guys left in the peloton on a flat stage!

CRASH! It's Marcel Kittel, points leader and ultimate sprint favorite who has fallen! He got up but it didn't look good.

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And another group goes off the back, leaving only 50 riders in the peloton. I was still sitting good, but somehow Cannondale and Katusha, and earlier Giant's pace had shredded the bunch!

And Marcel Kittel abandons the Giro d'Italia on only the 3rd stage. In a race where he could dominate, this is horribly bad luck! Giant must be happy they brought Degenkolb now.

In front, Andriato from Yellow Fluo attacked away with 10 km to go, giving it one last dig!

I was trying to move up with help from Steele, but I got boxed in, and at the wrong time. Katusha's leadout was perfect, and it even created a gap! A gap that Valverde and Evans had made. I hadn't.

We got to the front and Steele gave everything he had to bridge that gap. But Katusha must have been kicking themselves too, even as Kristoff surged ahead and made contact with Andriato. They had inadvertently gapped their team leader, Purito. With Valverde up the road, this was dangerous for them as well!

Kristoff caught Andriato just before the line and wins stage 3! But at what cost to the team's GC...

Thanks to Steele, it was at none! He managed to pull the groups back far enough to get the same time. I finished 11th, aside Purito. I didn't get a chance to attack but in the end that wasn't a realistic ambition. Simply by being in the front group it was a success.

In the end only 44 riders finished in the first group, it two major groups behind, two having combined.

Among those who lost time were Ten Dam, Scarponi, Cataldo, Rolland, Schleck, Cunego, De Gendt, Gesink, Pellizotti and Brajkovic.

Evans takes over the race lead, and Kristoff now leads points after Kittel's abandon.

We survived today, which is a major step in the right direction. And we haven't even reach the mountains yet. Tomorrow is flat, then we have a summit finish on stage 5. See you then!

We're back in Italy and another flat parcour. Definitely time for me to relax after yesterday, so Steele gets the chance.

And late in the stage they were caught without any trouble.

The Cannondale train was dominant with 5 km to, so Steele hopped on it, while the other sprinters tried to draw even.

And they would. It was 4 trains all drawn out over the road. Katusha, Cannondale, FDJ and Giant. Anyone could take it!

But nobody else had as good of a leadout as Viviani gave Sagan, and he leapt away. Steele was still there.

But Sagan had too much speed. Von Hoff couldn't get around. Meanwhile the other sprinters fought for placings.

Sagan takes the stage, but a wonderful results for Steele Von Hoff in 2nd! Everyone finished in the pack.

We're finally done with the introduction of this Giro route. Stage 5 is a mountain top finish! See you there!

The first summit finish! Granted it isn't the toughest of stages or finishes. But it still could cause selection!

4 men away. These kind of breaks are becoming quite the trend.

But one thing that certainly wasn't a trend is mid stage attackers! Big names that had lost time attacked away: Schleck, De Gendt, Ten Dam, and Pellizotti.

Eventually the chasers caught the break. And De Gendt didn't waste any time attacking away and getting 50 seconds!

Once we realized what was happening it was pretty clear. We reached the climb, the gradients weren't that high and there was still a huge pack. Janier and I did a little tempo but it wasn't seeming too eventful.

The breakaway had almost caught De Gendt inside the final km as Ten Dam and Pellizotti launched their final kicks!

And De Gendt takes the first MTF in 2014 GTs!

There had to be 100 guys still in the peloton, but nobody besides Uran answered Purito's late move. I would have, but I got boxed in behind Jacob Fuglsang. Perhaps he was trying to avoid deja vu when he saw me on his wheel.

Rodriguez easily dropped Uran and came home alone.

I managed to get a hole and catch Uran, squeezing into the top 10. We lost only 16 seconds to Purito. No one else gained or lost time, and Evans finished right behind me in pink. Didn't live up to the hype I'd say.