Tirreno-Adriatico stage 2 - Live coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico, the longest day of the race at a mammoth 219 kilometres.

We're 20 minutes from the start of the stage, which takes the peloton inland from Camaiore to Sovicille in Tuscany near Siena.

Here's our recap of what happened during the opening time trial yesterday...

Ganna storms to victory in Tirreno-Adriatico time trial opener

Monday's win was the 19th of Ganna's career, 17 of which have come in a time trial. The Italian now holds the leader's blue jersey by 11 seconds from Remco Evenepoel.

Alpecin-Fenix's Tim Merlier should be one of the men suited to today's stage...

Just under 10 minutes until the riders start their day.

Evenepoel struck a pessimistic note after yesterday's stage, even though he gained some time on GC rival Tadej Pogačar...

Evenepoel: My only hope at Tirreno-Adriatico is if Pogacar has a really bad day

And they're off. The riders have rolled out to start stage 2.

While Ganna holds the blue leader's jersey and the ciclamino points jersey, it's Evenepoel who is in white as the top young rider after the opening stage.

As a result of Ganna holding two jerseys, third-placed Pogačar will be in the ciclamino today.

Pogačar looking at that famous trophy he won last year during the sign-on in Camaiore.

The peloton is still rolling towards km0 at the moment.

A nice gesture at the beginning of the first road stage of the race – Ukrainian Mark Padun at the head of the peloton alongside the jersey holders.

Riders and fans staged a minute of silence to honour the victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Back to the racing and the peloton have let several riders jump away right at the off.

Johnatan Cañaveral and Davide Gabburo are out front for Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè. They're joined by Eolo-Kometa pair Davide Bais and Francesco Gavazzi, plus fellow Italian ProTeam representative Umberto Marengo.

207km to go

The breakaway riders have already been let go by the peloton. Their advantage is up to 1:30.

Only one classified climb and one intermediate sprint during today's stage. They come after 151 and 190 kilometres of racing.

It's moving billboard duty for the breakaway riders for much of the stage, then.

The opening 90 or so kilometres of today's stage are more or less pan flat, and with the breakaway already up the road there's unlikely to be a whole lot to talk about during these early parts of the day.

Some news from yesterday – Tom Pidcock to stay at Ineos Grenadiers

The Briton garnered interest from several other major teams and bike brands keen to emphasise his multi-disciplinary talents. However, he's set to stay at the team, Cyclingnews understands.

196km to go

The break now has an advantage of 7:30. The peloton really knocked it off after those riders jumped away at the start.

Tadej Pogačar put in a strong ride to finish on the podium of yesterday's time trial. He's still the overall favourite despite shedding some time to Evenepoel. After the stage he said that "there are some big days to come."

180km to go

Eight minutes for the breakaway currently.

We also have live coverage from today's third stage at Paris-Nice today. At 190.8 kilometres it's a long one there, too.

164km to go

A look at the riders in today's breakaway...

They have 6:30 on the peloton at the moment.

The gap continues to come down slightly, though it's still up at 5:40.

Yesterday's time trial saw the continuation of a neat aero exploit by winner Filippo Ganna and second-placed Remco Evenepoel. The trick? Stacking bikes on the roof of their team car.

Read on for a thorough explanation of the science involved and the likely gains the pair made with aerodynamics expert, Professor Richard Kelso.

145km to go

The riders are still working their way across the flat section to begin the stage. They're currently in the province of Pisa in Tuscany. The second half of the stage will see them race through the province of Siena.

The race has just passed through Peccioli, home of the Coppa Sabatini. Michael Valgren won that race last year and he's in the peloton here. Today's finale is quite different to the Coppa Sabatini's uphill finish, though.

Find out how to watch the race live with our handy guide here – How to watch Tirreno-Adriatico 2022 – live TV and streaming

135km to go

The break's advantage is down to five minutes now.

UAE Team Emirates working on behalf of Pogačar in the peloton.

120km to go

It's a pretty calm situation at the moment as the gap continues to hover at around the five-minute mark. We're still 70 kilometres away from the first and only classified climb of the day.

The riders are taking on the first small hills of the day, though nothing to cause any real problems.

The break's advantage has fallen slightly once again, this time to just under four minutes.

107km to go

Ineos Grenadiers and Lotto Soudal control the peloton.

Still the same five men out front – Johnatan Cañaveral, Davide Gabburo (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Davide Bais, Francesco Gavazzi (Eolo-Kometa), Umberto Marengo (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli)

101km to go

Lotto Soudal commanding the front of the peloton at the moment. They're working for their sprinter Caleb Ewan at the finish today.

4:25 up to the break.

Two of Ewan's rival, Italian sprinters Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech), share a joke in the peloton.

A look at Ewan among his Lotto teammates at the head of the peloton at the moment.

Skujins: I have to be vocal about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, everybody does

Quinn Simmons raising funds to help DS Popovych's evacuation efforts

80km to go

The peloton have brought down the gap to 3:45 now. It's up and down, lumpy terrain at the moment.

Lotto Soudal continue to lead way at the head of the peloton. Blue jersey Ganna follows close behind, with the Ineos, UAE, and QuickStep squads right behind him.

67km to go

2:30 for the break now as the peloton speeds up. The day's only classified climb is coming up soon.

Some information on today's finish from our reporter on the ground in Italy Stephen Farrand...

"The final 3km after the left turn are slightly downhill and so pretty fast. The final kilometre snakes left and right a fair bit and is only seven metres wide."

Nothing to stop a bunch sprint if the fast men survive over the climbs, then.

Stage 3 of Paris-Nice has just finished. Check out the results here.

62km to go

Meanwhile, back in Italy the break has hit the climb and Gabburo and Bais have jumped away from the rest.

Bais now out front alone after attacking once again.

59km to go

Bais is set to take the five points at the top here and grab the first green mountains jersey of the race.

 Bais duly takes the KOM.

54km to go

Gavazzi has joined his teammate Bais on the descent off the climb. Gabburo and Marengo chase.

2:20 between peloton and the front-runners. 30 seconds between the splits in the break.

Cañaveral caught by the peloton.

45km to go

On a flat section now – Bais and Gavazzi continue to push on out front while Gabburo lies at 1:05.

The peloton, still led by Ineos and Lotto, are a further 1:25 down.

40km to go

It's over for Gabburo now. 2:30 up to the Eolo-Kometa pair.

The Eolo-Kometa pair are continuing to plough onwards. They won't make the finish out front but they're giving it a good fight. Still 2:10 back to the peloton.

33km to go

More hills here and Mark Cavendish, who said at the start of the day that he's suffering from a cold, is losing contact at the rear of the peloton.

It's been a turbulent year for Astana Qazaqstan and the bad news keeps on coming as the paying agent and license holder behind the Kazakhstani squad are under judicial investigation in Luxembourg.

Read the full story on Astana's latest troubles here

Bais and Gavazzi are at the top of the hill in Chiusdino now, where the day's intermediate sprint is located.

Now 30 seconds further back, Tadej Pogačar jumps out of the peloton to try and grab a bonus second for third across the line.

28km to go

Pogačar took that bonus second despite an attempt from Ineos Grenadiers to stop him.

Cavendish said at the start that a stage like this would've been a nailed-on sprint a decade ago. He's fighting to get back to the peloton at the moment.

23km to go

The Eolo-Kometa duo still continue on. They're 40 seconds up the road now.

Cavendish has two QuickStep teammates with him, while Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) is chasing with them.

The group joins back up with the peloton ahead of the final hill of the day, which comes up next.

20km to go

Attack by Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) from the peloton. He takes a Cofidis rider with him but quickly goes it alone and passes the two breakaway riders.

Soler continues to push on. He's 23 seconds up on the peloton here.

You have to wonder how UAE's sprinter Pascal Ackermann feels today. If they're sending men on the attack here then maybe not too great. Or maybe he's in top shape and they're just making it a hard climb for some of the other sprinters.

Groupama-FDJ lead the peloton for Arnaud Démare.

16km to go

The full complement of FDJ men on the front here.

The Eolo-Kometa pair were already brought back, by the way.

14km to go

Groupama-FDJ are really pulling here but Soler is still 30 seconds up. They're heading down the descent off the climb now.

The seconds are slowly ebbing away as Soler continues down towards the flat roads to the finish.

10km to go

30 seconds for Soler.

Groupama-FDJ are joined at the front of the peloton by Arkéa-Samsic (riding for Nacer Bouhanni).

Bahrain Victorious also joining the fray for Phil Bauhaus.

7km to go

15 seconds for Soler.

He won't last too much longer – on this straight road the peloton can see him out front.

Now the seconds are edging back up to 20 seconds.

5km to go

15 seconds for Soler.

Arkéa, Lotto, Israel, Bahrain across the front of the peloton.

3km to go

10 seconds for Soler now as the peloton speeds up. Israel lead.

Race leader Ganna now moves to the front as Soler is caught at the 3km banner.

Ganna driving it on one side with Israel and BikeExchange behind him. Alpecin-Fenix driving it on the other side.

TotalEnergies move up, too.

2km to go

Israel, TotalEnergies, Alpecin now leading. Ganna drops back.

A high speed charge to the line now.

1km to go

Now QuickStep move up.

Ben Swift also up there among the Israel riders.

QuickStep are going!

Sagan third wheel behind the lead QuickStep duo.

Sagan launches first!

It's Sagan vs Merlier on the sweeping bend around to the line.

And it's Merlier who grabs the win in the closing metres! First win of the season for him.

Merlier came off Sagan's wheel. Kaden Groves behind moved up too and followed Merlier past Sagan. Merlier was a level above at the line, though.

It looked like Olav Kooij also made it past Sagan at the finish. He might have taken second there.

Here's the top 10...

1 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 05:23:53

2 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma

3 Kaden Groves (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco

4 Peter Sagan (Svk) TotalEnergies

5 Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis

6 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious

7 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team

8 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Israel-Premier Tech

9 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ

10 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroen Team

Merlier celebrates his first win of the season as he crosses the line.

Our report on stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico

Here's what Merlier had to say after the finish...

"It feels really good. The shape is already good for a long time, but the end results didn't work out so I'm happy I can take the first victory here in Italy.

"It was really hectic again. The first goal of the day was to survive the mountains. In the end it was just the guys of the team bringing me in a good position and it was all for myself – I needed to sprint to the finish.

"We'll see," he noted, referring to designs on adding to his win total at the race. "We already have the first victory – that was the goal of the week – and now we'll go for more."

That's all from our live coverage of today's second stage. Be sure to check back on the site for more news coming in from the race and, of course, more live coverage of Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice tomorrow.