Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) won a bunch sprint to take the second stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday and the pink jersey for the first time.
Greipel edged out Roberto Ferrari (UAE Team Emirates) at the end of the hilly 221-kilometer leg from Olbia to Tortoli, crossing the line in just over six hours. Jasper Stuyven was third on another slow day at the Giro, with lots of crosswinds and some headwinds.
The second stage went throughout the up-and-down Sardinian landscape. It didn’t take long before a breakaway was established. Teklehaimanot, Koshevoy, Andreetta, Owsian and Shalunov were the escapees of the day, after some attempts had failed earlier. Four of the five riders stayed ahead until the last climb, only Andreetta was already dropped before the climb.
On paper the Genna Silana, a second category climb of almost twenty kilometres, seemed ideal to decide the race, but there were no big accelerations from the bunch. An almost complete peloton started the descent of around thirty kilometres. Bahrain – Merida determined the pace in the descent and got the peloton completely stretched out, causing trouble for some riders, including Zakarin. In the last kilometres the teams of the sprinters could organise themselves. André Greipel was well-placed at the front of the bunch, surrounded by his teammates.
Jasper De Buyst pulled the sprint rather early and André Greipel finished it off in style. Roberto Ferrari became second and Jasper Stuyven finished third. Tomorrow Greipel will defend his pink jersey in a new sprint stage.
“It’s an honour to win a stage in the Giro and to wear the pink jersey”, said Greipel. “There are a few moments in your career as a sprinter where you can get hold of the leader’s jersey in a Grand Tour. You can feel a euphoric pink atmosphere here in Italy and even more because it’s the one hundred edition. They are totally in love with cycling so to wear this pink jersey on stage was an incredible feeling.”
??@AndreGreipel of ??@Lotto_Soudal wins stage 2 of ??@giroditalia #Giro100 pic.twitter.com/74wKMFvhWE
— World Cycling Stats (@wcstats) 6 mai 2017
Giro d’Italia 2017 – stage 2 results (Olbia – Tortoli):
| 1 | André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) | 6:05:18 |
| 2 | Roberto Ferrari (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 3 | Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 4 | Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 5 | Kristian Sbaragli (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 6 | Enrico Battaglin (LottoNl-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 7 | Ryan Gibbons (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 8 | Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 9 | Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) | ,, |
| 10 | Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 11 | Matteo Montaguti (AG2R) | ,, |
| 12 | Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac) | ,, |
| 13 | Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) | ,, |
| 14 | Maximiliano Richeze (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 15 | Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 16 | Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R) | ,, |
| 17 | Luka Mezgec (Orica-Scott) | ,, |
| 18 | Alexander Edmondson (Orica-Scott) | ,, |
| 19 | Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) | ,, |
| 20 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | ,, |
General classificationa fter stage 2:
| 1 | André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) | 11:18:39 |
| 2 | Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-hansgrohe) | +04” |
| 3 | Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) | +08” |
| 4 | Roberto Ferrari (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 5 | Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) | +10” |
| 6 | Pavel Brutt (Gazprom – Rusvelo) | +12” |
| 7 | Kristian Sbaragli (Dimension Data) | +14” |
| 8 | Ryan Gibbons (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 9 | Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 10 | Enrico Battaglin (LottoNl-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 11 | Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 12 | Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 13 | Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) | ,, |
| 14 | Simone Ponzi (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) | ,, |
| 15 | Sacha Modolo (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 16 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | ,, |
| 17 | Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) | ,, |
| 18 | Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R) | ,, |
| 19 | Diego Rosa (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 20 | Matteo Montaguti (AG2R) | ,, |
