Petacchi denies Cavendish victory in stage 2 of Giro

Giro d'Italia stage two photo gallery by Graham Watson>>

Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes) has won the second stage of the 2009 Giro d'Italia this afternoon, denying Mark Cavendish (Columbia) his first chance of solo stage victory.

Having sat on Cavendish's wheel on the run-in to the line, Petacchi came around the Manxman in the final few hundred metres of the stage. For once, Cavendish simply couldn't accelerate to catch him, giving the Italian his first taste of Giro glory since his last stage win in 2005.

Ben Swift (Katusha) came in third, giving Britain two places on the podium and the exciting prospect of another Brit able to contest bunch finishes at this level of competition.

It was a nervous finale around the winding streets of Trieste which saw the bunch fragmented as riders were held up on the narrow roads. Cavendish's Columbia team rallied to bring their man to the front, with Mark Renshaw giving Cavendish the perfect tow to the line - or so it appeared.

However, Petacchi read the race perfectly and he jumped around Cavendish, even allowing himself space to look around and see his pink-clad sprint rival shout an exclamation of disappointment.

All was not lost. Thanks to his time advantage from Columbia's victory in yesterday's team time trial, Cavendish holds on to the race lead and the maglia rosa for another day.

Several of the overall contenders suffered mishaps during the stage. Levi Leipheimer (Astana) punctured on a descent at 65km, but managed to get back up to the group. He eventually lost 13 secs, as did Italian favourite Ivan Basso (Liquigas).

CAVENDISH UNDER ATTACK

With so little time splitting the top 20 in the overall classification, the stage's intermediate sprints were hotly contested as the sprinters attempted to gain vital bonus seconds over their rivals.

Cavendish had his eye on Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream), who started the stage only six seconds adrift of the race leader and therefore in reach of grabbing the pink jersey. In the event, Cavendish's pole position remained safe.

It helped that Leonardo Scarselli (ISD) spent much of the day out on a lone break, and therefore scooped up the top points and time bonuses before the sprinters came through.

Scarselli's solo effort was inevitably doomed as the bunch - propelled by the sprinters' teams - reeled him as the race hit Trieste. Still, it gave Scarselli's ISD squad a nice bit of early TV coverage.

After the media scrum surrounding him in Venice, Lance Armstrong (Astana) looked content to roll along anonymously in the bunch in his first ever experience of a road stage in the Giro. However, his rivals will do well to note that the Texan has moved into the top ten overall...

Tomorrow the race heads from Grado to Valdobbiadene on a 198km stage.

RESULTS
Stage two: Jesolo-Trieste, 156km
1. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes in 3-43-07

2. Mark Cavendish (GB) Columbia-Highroad

3. Ben Swift (GB) Katusha

4. Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step

5. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Slipstream

6. Oscar Gatto (Ita) ISD

7. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre

8. Davide Vigano (Ita) Fuji-Servetto

9. Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre

10. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step all at same time.

Other

42. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana

44. Bradley Wiggins (GB) Garmin-Slipstream at same time

55. Jeremy Hunt (GB) Cervelo at 13secs

69. Daniel Lloyd (GB) Cervelo

85. Ian Stannard (GB) ISD

91. Chris Froome (GB) Barloworld

136. David Millar (GB) Garmin-Slipstream at 1-01

159. Charly Wegelius (GB) Silence-Lotto at 1-04

General classification after stage two
1. Mark Cavendish (GB) Columbia-Highroad in 4-04-43

2. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Columbia-Highroad at 14secs

3. Michael Rogers (Aus) Columbia-Highroad

4. Thomas Lovkvist (Swe) Columbia-Highroad

5. Edvald Boassen-Hagen (Nor) Columbia-Highroad at same time

6. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Slipstream at 16secs

7. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes at same time

8. Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin-Slipstream at 20 secs

9. Bradley Wiggins (GB) Garmin-Slipstream at same time

10. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana at 27secs

Other

42. Ian Stannard (GB) ISD

53. Jeremy Hunt (GB) Cervelo

59. Chris Froome (GB) Barloworld

90. Ben Swift (GB) Katusha

97. Daniel Lloyd (GB) Cervelo

161. Charly Wegelius (GB) Silence-Lotto

170. David Millar (GB) Garmin-Slipstream

Petacchi takes stage two, leaving Cavendish to reflect on a missed opportunity

Photos by Graham Watson

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