Forward planning and impeccable instincts carried Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-QuickStep) to a stylish victory and the overall leader’s blue jersey on stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico in Pomarance.
Ahead of the race, directeur sportif Davide Bramati had identified the sinuous finale – designed by double world champion Paolo Bettini with puncheurs of his own mould firmly in mind – as one to suit a rider of Stybar’s technical ability.
Stybar was well positioned on the day’s final obstacle, the 18% slopes of the short climb of Il Cerreto, with just over three kilometres remaining, but he chose to maintain a watching brief when first Pete Kennaugh (Sky) and then Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) delivered rasping accelerations.
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Ulissi’s surge snapped the reduced peloton to breaking point, ultimately creating the leading group of 20 or so riders, but as the gradient slackened towards the summit, nobody was willing to take up the reins.
Sensing the lull, Stybar duly bounded clear over the top and then swooped down the short, twisting descent that followed to open a small gap. The final 2.5 kilometres were on rippling, sinuous roads, and its rises and dips gave it the feel of an asphalt cyclo-cross course. Small wonder, then, that that a triple world champion in the discipline should feel so at home in this corner of Tuscany.
Davide Formolo (Cannondale) and Oscar Gatto (Tinkoff) put their shoulders to the wheel in a bid to peg Stybar back but made little inroads. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) fared a little better when he gave lone chase in the final kilometre, but it was too late to bring back the Czech who had time to sit up and savour his victory.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://ift.tt/1TPAwn4
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