Tirreno-Adriatico: Kittel victorious on stage 2 in Follonica

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Marcel Kittel got his first win of the season during stage 2 at Tirreno-Adriatico. Katusha-Alpecin gave him a perfect lead out in the crash-marred final circuit and set him up to take the bunch-sprint victory in Follonica ahead of world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo).

"I've been waiting a long time for this victory now," Kittel said. "Since the beginning of the season not everything has always worked perfect, and we tried very hard, and finally we got this victory as a reward. I'm very happy. The team did a very good job today. I have to say a big, big thank you to everyone for helping me. I think this is a big boost for the whole group."

The blue leader's jersey transferred from BMC Racing's Damiano Caruso to his teammate Patrick Bevin, who finished fifth on the day. Caruso is now in second overall, Greg Van Avermaet is third and Rohan Dennis fourth. All four have same time after the previous day's team time trial. 

"It just came about," said a surprised Bevin. "It's a stage where we didn't have to work; my teammates set me up to have a sprint. We don't have a guy to sprint, and they were keen to have me have a go in the final.

"I got caught behind that crash on the final lap and only just got back on but had a pretty good go through the bunch as it was spread out. It's a weird feeling to take a jersey off a teammate, but the plan for the week doesn't change.

"It's a nice feeling. Like I said, it's a really weird feeling to take a jersey off a teammate, especially one that's here to lead the race. I don't mind babysitting it for a day, but as we hit tomorrow nothing changes."

Daryl Impey leads the Mitchelton-Scott team in fifth place overall at four seconds, while Chris Froome (Team Sky) sits nine seconds back in ninth place.

The day's three escapees, Alexandr Foliforov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Guy Sagiv (Israel Cycling Academy) and Jacopo Mosca (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia), were caught and passed on the first of three 8.6km finishing circuits in Fallonica.

BMC led the way, initially challenged by Mitchelton-Scott, Astana and Katusha-Alpecin, but after a recon of the final circuit, speeds markedly increased as the peloton passed under the finish banner with one lap to go.

It was Trek-Segafredo, EF Education First-Drapac and Lotto Soudal that came to the fore with their sprinters in tow. But a crash on the left side of the road disrupted the rhythm of the lead-out trains and took down some 30 riders. The first 50 or so men that were unaffected by the crash split off the front and continued, with the anticipated bunch sprint only seven kilometres away.

In the final kilometre it was still Trek-Segafredo followed by EF Education First-Drapac, but Katusha-Alpecin had big plans for Kittel, and they launched him into a sprint in the last few hundred metres, and even from 50 metres out it was clear he was on his way to winning the stage.

"It's always a mental challenge to deal with this [taking a while to win], but I benefit from the years I've been a professional, with all the experience I'm able to handle this situation," Kittel said.

"I was always motivated every race, but in the first races this year not everything was going well, which is normal and expected. This is a big relief now. I'm very happy to win in Tirreno, it's a big race, a big first victory for me this season and the whole team."

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How it unfolded

Stage 2's 167km route started in Camaiore and was a day for the sprinters. Aside from the climb of Montemagno at the start of the stage, the rest was a flat, southward route to the finish city, where the peloton completed three 8.3km laps in Follonica.

Notably absent from the sprint stage was Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), who crashed and broke a rib during the team time trial. He finished the opening stage outside the time limit, and race officials deemed him ineligible to start the second stage.

The move of the day emerged on the Montemagno, with Alexandr Foliforov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Guy Sagiv (Israel Cycling Academy), Nicola Bagioli (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Jacopo Mosca (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia) going clear. Bagioli took first-place points over the top, and as the only climb of the day, he earned the event's first green mountains jersey.

The four riders opened a margin of 4:30 by the 15km mark, and then increased it to over six minutes. Bagioli sat up from the move as the remaining three pressed on to gain seven minutes.

Foliforov was the highest in the overall classification, 1:25 behind BMC's Caruso. His team, Gazprom-Rusvelo, placed 19th in the previous day's team time trial, just ahead of Wilier Triestina, Israel Cycling Academy and Nippo, all ranked in the bottom four teams.

Mosca picked up the points in the first intermediate sprint.

BMC naturally assumed their place at the front of the field with Caruso, wearing blue, protected from the wind. Teams Quick-Step and Katusha lurked just behind with their sprinters hiding in the bunch.

The sense of urgency to catch the breakaway increased as the race got closer to the second intermediate sprint, located with 25km to go, since it offered a time bonus of three seconds. Quick-Step Floors moved forward with Mitchelton-Scott and Katusha-Alpecin, and their combined efforts slashed the breakaway's advantage in half, down to three minutes at first, and then two minutes as they approached the final circuits.

The peloton didn't make the catch in time for the sprint, and Mosca, again, picked up the points along with the bonus, as the peloton's shadow loomed just behind them.

The peloton spanned wide across the coastal roads through the start-finish line with two laps to go, keeping the breakaway at 10 seconds. The speeds ramped up after the catch was made, but even with a crash on the final lap, Katusa-Alpecin's effort to bring Kittel to a winning sprint went uninterrupted.

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