'I'm surprised there weren't more crashes': Riders react to 'sketchy' Tirreno-Adriatico finale
A huge crash blighted the closing circuits of stage two of the Tirreno-Adriatico, where Marcel Kittel sprinted to victory

Tirreno-Adriatico provided another tough stage that included potholes, roundabouts and speed bumps in the final circuit in Follonica, Italy, and led to riders crashing and some likely quitting.
Riders including Stefan Küng (BMC Racing) and Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r La Mondiale) arrived to the ambulance after the stage for treatment of injuries sustained in a crash at 6.8 kilometres to race. Others including Chris Froome (Sky) nearly hit the deck.
>>> Jérôme Cousin puts in ruthless display to win Paris-Nice stage five as Sanchez holds lead
"I'm surprised there's not more crashes," Iljo Keisse (Quick-Step Floors) told Cycling Weekly.
He worked for Fernando Gaviria, who finished seventh in the stage won by Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin). Quick-Step helper Maximiliano Richeze fell down and still showed blood on his knee.
"Normal Italian roads? I don't know. All day s*** roads, and the final is ridiculous. It's a WorldTour race, but it's worse than a Belgian criterium.
"It can be there are some bad roads, but then you don't make three laps over the same bad roads over impossible corners, then you know things are going to go wrong."
The final 8.3-kilometre circuit took them three times around the coastal city. The race book called it "relatively wide and mostly straight urban roads ... with a series of tricky corners."
"The roads? They're great, but no for bike racing," said BMC Racing team boss, Jim Ochowicz as his rider Küng sat in the ambulance bleeding.
"I'm sure the road conditions led to his cash, there must have been 20 riders on the ground. That was not a circuit for a bike race. There were speed bumps everywhere and a lot of road furniture, the road narrowed at points. You could finish there, but not ride three or four circuits on it."
Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky) hit the same pothole twice and punctured both times. Other rides including Froome and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) dealt with punctures as the stage headed south along the Tuscan coast.
"There are plenty of potholes, it's pretty normal for this part of the world that I have to be careful with all the potholes in the road," Kwiatkowski explained.
"I hit the pothole, luckily I stayed upright and I could come back, but the rest of the guys had bad luck. And I was almost involved in the crash."
Sometimes "it's normal to deal with such road conditions" anywhere in the world.
"We go from A to B, and sometimes you can't pick another road. You have to be careful not to race on too narrow tyres," Kwiatkowski added.
Froome is racing the Tirreno-Adriatico as part of his lead-up to the Giro d'Italia in May. It is race training but also offers a taste of the roads he will face in the Giro.
"I saved it, then someone hit me from behind," Froome said. "There was a big pileup, whole group of guys stopped.
"The roads were pretty sketchy, different than the normal calendar I've been doing every year. It takes a bit getting used to. It's something I need to get adjusted to, the racing style is slightly different in Italy and the road surface is different."
Thank you for reading 10 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
-
-
Lizzie Deignan to make Tour de France Femmes debut this July
'It's the biggest stage in the world,' says Brit
By Tom Davidson • Published
-
Garmin Forerunner 255 review - no-frills smartwatch with premium functionality
Most of the sports and health tracking of Garmin's top-of-the-range watches but at a much more affordable price
By Simon Smythe • Published
-
Primož Roglič clinches Tirreno-Adriatico trident as Philipsen bags second stage win
Belgian sprinter Jasper Philipsen edges out Dylan Groenewegen on final Tirreno stage as Roglič takes the title
By Peter Cossins • Published
-
Lefevere suggests UCI is 'short of cash' after fining Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step rails against the ruling body after his French team leader is penalised for removing his helmet while racing
By Peter Cossins • Published
-
Primož Roglič snatches overall lead at Tirreno-Adriatico with stage five victory
Slovenian took his second stage in two days, outsprinting Giulio Ciccone and Tao Geoghegan Hart on the Sassotetto climb
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Jasper Philipsen powers to stage three victory at Tirreno-Adriatico
After a lead out from Mathieu van der Poel, Philipsen outsprinted both Phil Bauhaus and Biniam Girmay to take the win
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Tirreno-Adriatico 2023: Fabio Jakobsen wins stage two after late surge for the line
European champion put in huge final effort to outsprint Jasper Philipsen and Fernando Gaviria
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Tirreno-Adriatico 2023: Filippo Ganna obliterates the field to win opening day time trial
Italian won the day with a stunning time of 12-28 ahead of Lennard Kämna in second
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Tirreno-Adriatico 2023: Route and start list
All the key information ahead of this year's Race of the Two Seas
By Cycling Weekly • Published
-
Primož Roglič to return to racing at Tirreno-Adriatico 'without pressure'
The Jumbo-Visma rider hasn't competed since abandoning last year's Vuelta a España
By Tom Davidson • Published