Hello and welcome to stage number two of this year's Tirreno - Adriatico. Yesterday saw a dominant win by Bryan Coquard - and today's stage will again be one for sprinters like him!
We have travelled from the Ligurian to the Adriatic sea, from West to East, where we are now in today's starting venue, Numana. This small commune counting just about 3,000 inhabitants is roughly 15km south of Ancona, which the riders will reach after the first 15 undulating kilometers.
The road then leads south-west, where we'll reach the first category 4 KoM of the day in Offagna after 42.1km, having left behind already more than half of today's uphill parts.
The sprint in Jesi will take place just after a fast descent, having covered 63.4km. The stage then continues in NNW direction, with the second category 4 KoM in Ostra closing the first - harder - half of the race.
The riders will then soon reach Fano, counting roughly 60,000 inhabitants, again on the Adriatic coast, where we'll have the second intermediate sprint as the riders pass the finish line for the first time, after 131.5km. However, they will have to ride two additional 11.8km loops before we'll know today's winner at the third crossing of the finish line.
Fano's roman name being Fanum Fortunae - Fortuna's Sanctuary - who will be today's most fortunate rider? The bookies list Coquard, Kennaugh and Guerao first, as expected, followed by Groenewegen, Van Poppel, Samolenkov, Van der Sande, Nelson, Serebriakov and Nizzolo. Let's see how these fast men survive the first 3/4 of the race with some hard uphill sections - which none of them really likes. Let's find it out!
Some riders really don't take the time to have a look at the beauties of the Adriatic sea, as Turek, Fiorelli, Dal Col, Hansen and De Bondt attack right from the start!
Koishi, Sagan and Janse van Rensburg try to close up, but they fail. The peloton doesn't seem to be too worried about the leading quintet, and so the gap soon reaches the two minutes mark.
As the leading group has already almost reached the top of the first (uncategorized) hill, some riders find the peloton's speed too slow, and Arifin tries to bridge the gap to the leaders. His attack is followed by Arslanov, Blythe, Vink, Lammertink and Luchshenko. The gap to the leaders is still 1'40, and the pack is 40" behind.
However, Prasad and Seigle don't agree with this second group, and they're now powering up the remainder of this first hill.
With the help of Betancourt and Oliveira, the pursuers have been reeled in, and it's now Seigle and Koep leading the bunch. The leaders are 2 minutes ahead.
As the gap keeps increasing, and reaches more than 3 minutes by the top of the next hill, let's now have a closer look at the riders in the Breakaway of the Day:
Fiorelli is without any doubt and by far the strongest puncheur in the group. With the last hill being more than 50km from the finish, this may not really help him in the end, though.
Hansen is the strongest flat rider and sprinter, closely followed by De Bondt, whereas Turek and Dal Col have got decent flat capabilities, but definitely are no sprinters.
GC-wise Hansen is just 8" back and could get the virtual leader jersey by winning both intermediate sprints, just like Turek (+ 9").
Not a great situation for Keinath, who punctures right at the beginning of the first category 4 hill!
However, he gets back to the pack in no time, thanks to his strong uphill riding.
Meanwhile, Hansen takes the first KoM sprint and gets himself into a great situation for the first KoM jersey:
1. Hansen - 5
2. Dal Col - 3
3. Fiorelli - 1
This must be a rather disappointing result for Fiorelli, but the final 300 meters were quite flat, giving Hansen a great advantage with his strong sprint.
The peloton crosses the line 4'22 after the breakaway.
As expected, Hansen and De Bondt are the strongest at the first intermediate sprint:
1. Hansen
2. De Bondt
3. Turek
Meaning Hansen is just 4" behind Coquard in the virtual GC now. The peloton has gained back a minute, trailing by 3'21.
The second KoM is much steeper at the top, meaning Fiorelli wins this one without any problem:
1. Fiorelli - 5
2. Dal Col - 3
3. De Bondt - 1
Meaning that both Fiorelli and Dal Col now have 6 points - let's see to whom the jury will award the jersey tonight!
The peloton, now led by Dlamini and Andersen, is still 3'13 back. 70km to go.
Then, the breakaway already reaches Fano, the arrival venue, where Hansen wins the second intermediate sprint taken at the finish line:
1. Hansen
2. Dal Col
3. Turek
Now the Dane has left behind Coquard by 4" in the virtual GC, meaning the Frenchman will need to come in at least 3rd to defend his leader jersey!
But the peloton first needs to catch the breakaway, which is still 1'36 ahead and has just lost Fiorelli, the group's weakest flat rider.
Whereas Aegon and Air France have been working all day long, we now finally see some Festina shirts up front, as the bunch catches Fiorelli.
The rest of the BotD are still one minute ahead.
And now, with just 15km to go, the leader's team is really riding full power, with 6 men leading the peloton! And we still have 53" for the breakaway!
A mix of sprinters and GC favorites very well positioned currently, but really just Festina doing the work now!
Last lap for the breakaway, and the peloton is now quickly closing in! Will 37" be enough for these final 11.8 kilometers?
And it wasn't the hilly part, but Festina's horrendous speed causing serious damage to the peloton now, as the pack has split!
Of the top sprinters, Nelson and Serebriakov have been left behind, but we see as well Brändle (2nd GC), Carthy, one of the main U25 contenders, Brambilla, Preidler, Ji, Brenes and Betancourt not having made it to the right side of the split!
The breakaway still has 25" with 8km left, whereas the second group is already 50" behind the peloton!
Only 5km left, and Coquard still has 4 teammates by his side, with Mavrikakis and Lecuisinier currently taking turns. Still 24" for the BotD, the peloton is once more this year struggling to reel in the escapees!
The second group still trails by about 50".
3 kilometers to go, and it's mainly Hansen as the strongest flat rider pulling the breakaway group - but he seems to be done, too!
The peloton, led by Barbier and Weber now, still 22" back!
And there's another split in the second group now, with Serebriakov, Brambilla, Carthy, Ji, Betancourt and Brenes on the wrong side again!
That's it, with just 2km to go, Weber has caught the breakaway group! Here's the order behind him: Coquard Kennaugh Scully Soupe Van Poppel Nizzolo Van der Sande Samolenkov
While Barbier has done his job and is falling back, Guerao and Groenewegen are in a really bad position and will probably not be competing for the top spots today!
Meanwhile, the first split group has made it back to the peloton, but Nelson is too far behind to get a good result today. Brändle and Preidler are back in the bunch, too. The second group already trails by 1'45!
Festina has been working a lot, and now Coquard's last leadout in Weber is already done under the red kite - a long way to go for his leader!
Behind are Kennaugh, Soupe, Scully, Van Poppel, Nizzolo, Van der Sande, Samolenkov, Santos and Martinelli.
Coquard still with a slight edge over Kennaugh and Van Poppel, followed by Nizzolo. Then Samolenkov, Van der Sande and Soupe almost on one line, whereas Scully seems to struggle a bit more. Santos and Martinelli have lost contact. 500 meters to go.
Wow, that's an unexpected attack, as Taaramäe attacks under the red kite as well, getting a gap on the peloton! Will he even gain some seconds on today's flat stage?
Meanwhile, the sprinters reach the final 300 meters, and it's Van Poppel who has now taken the lead over Coquard! Kennaugh seems to be fading even more than the Frenchman, as Nizzolo is closing in! Samolenkov, Van der Sande, Soupe and Scully follow.
200m to go, and we still have the same situation! Van Poppel a few inches ahead of Coquard, and Kennaugh accelerating again! Nizzolo, Samolenkov and Van der Sande seem to be somehow boxed in, whereas Soupe and Scully just don't have the speed right now.
What a comeback! With just 100m to go, Coquard is again on level terms with Van Poppel! Behind these two, Nizzolo now gets the space he needs to close in on Kennaugh, but even Samolenkov, Van der Sande, Soupe and Scully now seem to have some chances again!
And he does it! Bryan Coquard makes it two in a row, as he wins the second stage as well! This means he'll definitely keep his leader jersey for one more day, and greatly extends his lead in the points standings! Excellent work by Festina - OAKA, perfectly finished by Coquard!
And behind him, it will be really close for second between Van Poppel and Nizzolo!
It is really close, really, really close! Finally, the judges decide to award the second place to Giacomo Nizzolo, and 3rd goes to Danny Van Poppel!
Artem Samolenkov just misses out on the podium, as he takes 4th. At least one of the Tinkoff sprinter duo was where he had to be today.
Peter Kennaugh clearly faded in the end, losing a podium place and finishing 5th, ahead of Tom Scully, Geoffrey Soupe and Tosh Van der Sande.
A few meters behind these Top 8, but without a gap awarded, Emerson Santos and Davide Martinelli complete today's Top 10.
Weber then takes 11th, ahead of Taaramäe, who kept clear of the bunch. However, still no gaps. The following riders come in next:
13. Guerao - who did a great sprint and gained a lot of positions
14. Pruus
15. Roman
16. Spilak
17. Wellens
18. Dombrowski
19. Culey
20. Hirt
A disappointing day for Groenewegen on P40 and Nelson on P83.
But even more for those who finished in the second group - as there is a gap of 2'11 for them! Whereas for Serebriakov this just means a missed chance for a good stage result, riders like Betancourt and Ji probably can bid farewell to their GC ambitions - definitely not the greatest day for ISA - Hexacta!
But now let's stop talking about today's losers - and let's cheer the great winner, Bryan Coquard! Second stage, second win, leader jersey, points jersey - he couldn't have dreamt of a better start to this race!
Of course, he'll very likely lose the leader jersey tomorrow, but he's got a very nice lead in the points standings now - with one sprinter stage still remaining!
The jury has decided to give the KoM jersey to Andrea Dal Col, who will have to work hard tomorrow if he wants to keep it!
The white jersey remains on Silvio Herklotz's shoulders, whereas Generali keep their lead in the team standings.
And done is a stage that did some serious damage to several possible GC contenders - let's see if any of them can strike back tomorrow!
Tirreno - Adriatico 
