2019 Giro d'Italia Stage 2 Results & Recap
Stage 2 of the 2019 Giro d'Italia is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
The first road stage of the 2019 Giro d’Italia was full of chaos and surprises, yet nevertheless delivered the expected clash of the top sprinters. With the help of his superb team, the German Grand Tour debutant Pascal Ackermann left competitors Viviani, Ewan and Gaviria behind him.
As the stage kicked off from a rainy Bologna early this afternoon, a sizeable escape group formed quickly. Mirco Maestri (BRD), Damiano Cima (NIP), Sean Bennett (EF1), Lukasz Owsian (CPT), François Bidard (ALM), Marco Frapporti (ANS) and teammates Giulio Ciccone and William Clarke (TFS) found each other and soon created a gap of 5'30" before the peloton organised itself and kept the break at a steady three minutes for the rest of the day.
After an unadventurous first half, the second half of the stage provided plenty of prizes for the break riders as the Tuscan sun replaced the pouring rain. Two intermediate sprints were divided between the Italian pro-continental squads, with Damiano Cima taking second and first, and thus the intermediate sprint classification for the day. Trek Segafredo had most to gain from this break though, as Clarke dug in deep to help his teammate build out his advantage in the KOM competition. At the climb to Montalbano, Ciccone exploded the break group and reaped the rewards, taking the full nine points at the top of the climb. He now leads the KOM classification with 21 points in front of fellow escapee Bidard at six points.
As reduced break of four, including Ciccone, Bidard, Frapporti and Owsian, kept in front until the last ten kilometres. Despite the rolling terrain, the bunch didn´t shed any sprinters. It was only on the flat final 25 kilometres that the peloton broke in pieces, not thanks to the height differences but rather thanks to the strong winds in the approach to the finish line. The only sprinters caught behind the split however were CCC´s Mareczko, Trek´s Moschetti and Nippo´s Lobato. All GC contenders were safely in the first peloton.
The final section of the day took place in the narrow streets of Fucecchio. Twist and turns strung out the peloton as Gasparotto turned up the pace for Dimension Data´s Ryan Gibbons. The team had lost their main sprinter, Nizzolo, to a flat tire just before. In the ultimate two kilometres, the sprint trains of Bora Hansgrohe, Groupama FDJ and Lotto Soudal returned to the front, until a crash took most of the FDJ train out and disturbed the orderly sprint. Caleb Ewan was perfectly placed with a lead out man in front of him and his competitors in disarray, but just couldn´t make it. On the other side of the road, Bora´s Pascal Ackermann had lost his own train, but showed himself superior in pure strength, taking the win with Quickstep´s Elia Viviani in his wheel.
This is what the young German rider had to say at the finish: “I was at 250 metres to go and I saw no sprinters going yet so I thought, I have to get my speed here, and luckily it was enough!”. Asked if he felt pressure from being selected over his teammate Sam Bennett, Ackerman replied: “Yes, of course, but you have to remember it’s my first Grand Tour! It was my first chance to win a stage and we achieved it straight away. It's going to be good motivation for the team for the next three weeks.”.
The overall classification saw now changes, although it’s noteworthy to mention that Maglia Rosa Primoz Roglic’ team did not shy away from working on the front alongside the sprinters’ teams, putting a damper on rumours that the team would be glad to rid themselves from the pressure that the pink jersey provides.\n
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