Marcel Kittel takes first win of the year on Tirreno-Adriatico stage two
Patrick Bevin takes overall race lead from BMC team-mate Damiano Caruso after a hectic bunch sprint on stage two of Tirreno-Adriatico


Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) took his first victory of the 2018 season, claiming the bunch sprint victory on stage two of Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy on Thursday.
A late crash had disrupted the flow of the peloton going into the finale of the flat stage from Camaiore to Follonica, but Kittel's Katusha-Alpecin team-mates managed to reassemble a compact lead-out for the German, who duly finished off their effort.
World champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) placed second in the chaotic sprint, with Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) in third.
Patrick Bevin's fifth place on the stage meant that he took over from BMC Racing team-mate Damiano Caruso at the top of the general classification. Caruso slips to second behind the New Zealander, with fellow BMC rider Greg Van Avermaet in third. BMC's dominance at the top of the GC came after the opening day's team time trial victory.
Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) was one of those who was caught up in the crash with seven kilometres to go, and dropped out of the top 10 overall. Team Sky's Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome both move up overall, into seventh and ninth overall.
How it happened
The day's escape group of Nicola Bagioli (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Alexander Foliforov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Jacopo Mosca (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia) and Guy Sagiv (Israel Cycling Academy) formed on the early climb of Montemagno.
The quartet quickly opened up a decent gap over the BMC-controlled peloton, stretching it out to over five minutes after 20 kilometres.
Bagnoli appeared to be only interested in the mountain points on offer on the climb, and sat up 40km into the stage after cresting the climb first to leave just three out front.
The escape continued to work well together, and their advantage had been pushed out to over seven minutes inside 100km to go.
However, that was about to change as Mitchelton-Scott put Luke Durbridge on the front of the bunch. The Australian upped the pace considerably, and the gap started to reduce. He took several turns on the front over the rest of the stage and each time chipped more time away from the break.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AntnS1WXA4
Inside the final 50km, the gap was down to two minutes.
BMC took more of a back seat, allowing Mitchelton-Scott to continue working on the front with members of Quick-Step Floors, Trek-Segafredo and Katusha – all working for their sprinters.
The break's day out came to an end with 12km to go, which signalled a change in the composure of the bunch as riders started jostling for position on narrow roads with plenty of roundabouts, street furniture and corners.
A big crash took down a swathe of the peloton with 7km to go, as riders were spread all across the road.
The crash had disrupted some of the sprinters teams, and there was a lot of jostling and some elbows touching as lead-out trains tried to reassemble into the final 5km.
At one point it looked as though Katusha-Alpecin had formed two lead-outs, one on each side of the peloton as they tried to find Kittel. But find him they did, and the German looked to be back on top form as he opened up his sprint early after a final effort from team-mate Rick Zabel, and smoothly opened up a gap over his rivals.
>>> Tirreno-Adriatico 2018: Latest news, reports and race info
Tirreno-Adriatico 2018 continues on Friday with stage three, from Follonica to Trevi and covering 234 kilometres. It promises to be a tough stage: not only the longest of the race, but peppered with climbs including the final, punchy ascent to the finish.
Results
Tirreno-Adriatico 2018, stage two: Camaiore to Follonica, 167km
1. Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
3. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
4. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
5. Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing
6. Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
7. Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
8. Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
9. Eduard Micheal Grosu (Ven) Nippo Vini Fantini
10. Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, all at same time
General classification after stage two
1. Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing, in 4-34-43
2. Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing, at same time
3. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing, at same time
4. Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing, at same time
5. Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott, at 4 secs
6. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 9 secs
7. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, at 9 secs
8. Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky, at 9 secs
9. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky, at 9 secs
10. Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky, at 9 secs
Thank you for reading 5 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
Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, n exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
-
-
Tour de France 2022 withdrawals: Who's had to leave the French Grand Tour?
Stage five of the 2022 Tour de France presented the race's first dropouts
By Ryan Dabbs • Published
-
Simon Clarke powers to victory on decisive cobbled Tour de France stage five
Australian beats Taco van der Horn and other breakaway rivals in dramatic sprint finish
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Phil Bauhaus wins chaotic sprint at Tirreno-Adriatico as Tadej Pogačar secures overall victory
The Bahrain-Victorious sprinter pipped Israel-Premier Tech's Giacomo Nizzolo on the line for his first victory of the season.
By Pete Trifunovic • Published
-
Tadej Pogačar stamps authority on Tirreno-Adriatico with stage six victory
The Slovenian increases his overall lead with one stage remaining
By Jonny Long • Published
-
Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel scupper chances of winning Tirreno-Adriatico stage five after missing turn
Jonas Vingegaard was also a part of the trio of riders catching the breakaway group before completely missing a turn 6km from the line
By Ryan Dabbs • Published
-
Filippo Ganna wins stage one as Remco Evenepoel takes seven seconds on Tadej Pogačar at Tirreno-Adriatico
The world time trial champion wins the race against the clock on home soil
By Jonny Long • Published
-
Tirreno-Adriatico 2022 route: Stages for the 57th edition of the 'Race of the Two Seas'
The hilly race between the two seas has released its 2022 route with varied terrain to be tackled
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Filippo Ganna says he's 'not a robot' after losing first time trial in over a year
Filippo Ganna says that he is "human, not a robot" after losing his first time trial in over a year on the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico 2021 in San Benedetto del Tronto.
By Tim Bonville-Ginn • Published
-
‘Not a bad start to the experiment’ - Wout van Aert wants to race for overall wins again after Tirreno-Adriatico podium
Wout van Aert said Tirreno-Adriatico was “not a bad start” to his general classification experiment.
By Alex Ballinger • Published
-
Five things we learned from Tirreno-Adriatico 2021
The Race of the Two Seas provided a classic edition in 2021 - here's what we learned from the 56th Tirreno-Adriatico
By Stephen Puddicombe • Published