Siutsou shows Sky's strength with Vetriolo Terme win

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Kanstantin Siutsou gave a stark illustration of the startling strength in depth in Sky’s roster as he held off the late charge of Mauro Santambrogio (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) to win stage 2 of the Giro del Trentino at Vetriolo Terme.

Maxime Bouet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) moved to the top of the general classification after previous overall leader Josef Cerny (CCC Polsat) cracked on the long haul to the finish, but much of the entertainment on the final climb was provided by the duel between Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Bradley Wiggins (Sky).

The pair were the strongest of the Giro d’Italia contenders on show and fought out a score draw as they crossed the line together in 3rd and 4th place after Wiggins responded to three sharp Nibali accelerations in the closing kilometres.

“We showed that don’t just win races with Wiggins and Froome, we have other strong riders in the team too,” Siutsou said on crossing the line. “Now I can say that I’m ready to help my leader at the Giro d’Italia.”

A break from the template

Siutsou’s victory came about as Sky broke from their by-now customary template of setting the pace en masse at the front of the peloton on the final climb. Instead, Siutsou himself accelerated off the front of the bunch a little over 9 kilometres from the summit of the first category Vetriolo, shortly after the day’s early escapees had been swept up on the lower slopes.

Siutsou was joined in his foray off the front by Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani-CSF Inox) and Pierre Rolland (Europcar), while Wiggins sat towards the back of the dwindling group of overall contenders. Sensing – or perhaps searching for – signs of weakness from the Briton, Ivan Basso sent his Cannondale teammate Cameron Wurf to the front of the group to stretch things out, but Wiggins’ fluid pedalling suggested that his positioning was something of a bluff.

Up front, Siutsou was gradually turning up the heat on Pirazzi and Rolland. 5 kilometres from the summit, his forcing distanced Rolland for the first time and while the Frenchman fought his way back on, it was the beginning of the end of his aspirations and he was definitely jettisoned a kilometre later.

Pirazzi was able to resist for a little longer although he had to summon up a Herculean effort to withstand the second of Siutsou’s steady, seated injection of pace, and a little over 3 kilometres from the finish, he too was forced to wave the white flag.

By that point, Astana had taken over at the head of the group of favourites some twenty seconds behind Siutsou. Valerio Agnoli, Fabio Aru and Paolo Tiralongo’s forcing inside the last six kilometres precipitated the whittling down process in earnest, with Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida) and Dario Cataldo (Sky) among those to be distanced.

Wiggins v Nibali

That paved the way for the first of Nibali’s accelerations, with a shade under three kilometres to race. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) came with him instantly while Wiggins, one eye fixed on his power meter, gradually pedalled his way across to the Sicilian’s wheel, while Ivan Basso was jettisoned out the back of the group.

500 metres later, Nibali repeated the dose. Again, Pozzovivo replied immediately with Mauro Santambrogio, and again, Wiggins was measured but firm in his response. A labouring Cadel Evans (BMC) initially managed to get back on terms with Nibali, but when he kicked again, the Australian was left floundering.

With 1.5km to race, Siutsou had 18 seconds in hand on the Nibali group, and it was at this point that Santambrogio decided to set off in pursuit by himself. Wiggins had eyes only for Nibali’s wheel, however, and diligently tracked the Sicilian when he made one last acceleration inside the final kilometre.

Although the road flattened out on the approach to the summit, Santambrogio came close to reeling in Siutsou, but he ran out of road and fell just short, crossing the line just 4 seconds down on the Sky rider.

Nibali led Wiggins over the line 15 seconds further later, with neither man contesting the sprint for third. Wiggins offered Nibali a pat on the back as they rode through the finish area, as if to signal their parity. With their battle on the slopes of the Vetriolo, the psychological warfare of the Giro d’Italia has already begun.

In the fight for overall honours, Maxime Bouet distanced overnight leader Josef Cerny and limited his losses to 2:23 on Siutsou to move into the cyclamen jersey. The Frenchman leads Siutsou by 3:19 overall, with Wiggins at 3:48 and Nibali at 3:57, but with two tough stages to come – including Friday’s summit finish at Sega di Ala – the he will have to be on song if he is to hold the jersey to the finish.

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