Sagan doubles up in Lanusei

Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) regained the upper hand at the Giro di Sardegna in Lanusei with another fine sprint victory from an elite group of riders. The 21-year-old Slovak had lost the overall lead to Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) the previous day but he again took control of the leader’s jersey in a finale that saw him showcase his precocious talents.

Once again, a select group of strongmen disputed the honours in an uphill sprint, and after being soundly beaten by Cunego on Wednesday, Sagan made no mistake with a powerful surge that was impressive both in its timing and its execution.

For the second consecutive day, José Serpa (Androni Giocatolli) suffered the frustration of a second-place finish, while his teammate Emanuele Sella came home in fourth. Sandwiched between them was Cunego, who had to give best to Sagan’s top-end speed and lost his overall lead.

The day’s early action came courtesy of Alessandro Ballan (BMC). After a distant second place behind the rampant Sagan on day one, the former world champion realised that his chances in a group sprint were limited and he sought to make the race difficult from the outset by attacking 13km in.

He was joined up front by Maxim Iglinski (Astana), Marco Frapporti (Colnago Csf Inox), Alexander Porsev (Katusha Team), Lucas Euser (Team Spidertech Powered by C10) and Antonio Santoro (Androni Giocattoli), and the allies of circumstance combined to good effect to build up a five-minute lead over the peloton at the 100km mark.

With Lampre-ISD and Liquigas-Cannondale both keen to keep tabs on affairs up front, however, that advantage would soon begin to dwindle. The discrepancies in strength between the six elements of the lead group also began to dampen its solidarity, and 15km from the finish, Ballan and Santoro saw fit to bid their companions adieu and press on ahead.

Soon afterwards, Ballan was alone in front, and while it is still very early in the campaign, it is notable that the former Tour of Flanders winner has been showing sustained flashes of his class in the early season for the first time since the halcyon days of 2008. However, in spite of the thinning out of the chase group behind, he too would be swept up 6km from the line as Liquigas-Cannondale and Lampre-ISD dictated the terms of the finale.

Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) and Stefano Pirazzi (CSF-Colnago) added to the spectacle with a rally off the front, but there was an air of inevitability about the climax. In the end, it was simply a question of which of the Italian ProTeams’ finishers would take the honours on the curved climb to the line.

After being burned by the master Cunego on Wednesday, the young Sagan offered an emphatic response in Lanusei as he roared clear of Sella and Cunego on the drag to the line to snare a comfortable victory.