Matteo Pelucchi won stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico Thursday in Cascina, Italy. Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) surged late for a bunch-sprint victory in the 166-kilometer leg from San Vincenzo.
Arnaud Demare (FDJ.fr) was second and André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) was third.
Overall leader Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) missed out in the sprint, but finished in the peloton to defend his blue jersey.
Five riders made the long escape on Thursday: Marco Canola (Bardiani-CSF), David De La Cruz (NetApp-Endura), Alex Dowsett (Movistar), Davide Malacarne (Europcar), and Daniel Teklehaymanot (MTN-Qhubeka). Dowsett went alone with just over 30 mostly-flat kilometers remaining in the stage. The Briton pushed on with 15km to go, holding onto a lead of more than half-a-minute. The former Giro d’Italia stage winner used his time trial prowess to push on alone toward the finish.
A crash with 13km to go brought a half-dozen riders to the ground, with Lotto-Belisol losing at least two men from the front of the race.
Tinkoff-Saxo, Cannondale, and BMC Racing took up the pace-making in the bunch and with 6.8km to go, the race was back together, Dowsett’s long bid undone.
FDJ.fr went to the front for Arnaud Demare with 3.5km remaining, Omega Pharma massing behind them.
A crash with 2.5km remaining took Marcel Kittel out of the running and the big German through his bike in frustration.
Demare rode under the 1km kite behind three teammates and looked to have the stage in-hand before Pelucchi came from Greipel’s wheel to pip the Frenchman at the line.
Peter Sagan (Cannondale) was fourth.
Tirreno-Adriatico continues Friday with the 210km third stage, from Cascina to Arezzo. The relatively uneventful stage profile culminates with a technical run-in to a final, uphill kilometer that averages five-percent gradient.
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