Swift strikes first in Gatteo

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Ben Swift (Team Sky) won the morning stage of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali around Gatteo near the Adriatico coast, beating Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida), Damiano Caruso (Cannondale) and Thomas Sprengers (Topsport Vlaanderen) in a sprint. A group of 50 riders finished ahead of the peloton after a climb split the race as they chased down the break of the day. The seven riders were swept up 17km from the finish, with Team Sky working to set up Swift for victory.

It was the Yorkshire man's first win of 2014 after finishing an impressive third in Milan-San Remo on Sunday.

The second semi-tappa of the opening day of racing is a 13.3km team time trial from Gatteo a Mare to Gatteo.