March 13/14 14:18 pm - Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 2

Posted by Editoress on 03/13/14
 

The Italian sprinter Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling), won a combative sprint in the Tuscan village of Cáscina today to win stage 2 of the 49th Tirreno-Adriatico.

In the final metres, Pelucchi darted past Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr) and André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) to seal victory.

The overall race leader, Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step), was held up by a crash involving Marcel Kittel (Team Giant - Shimano) 2 km from the line. Neither rider disputed the sprint. Cavendish retained the Maglia Azzurra (blue jersey) of the race leader.

Photo: La Presse

Photo: La Presse

After the stage, the stage winner and the race leader spoke to the press:

Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling)
Sense of achievement: “I can still hardly believe that I’ve won, because all the best sprinters in the world are here. It’s an incredible result. I knew I could be competitive, but it is always very difficult to turn that into a win.”
 
The sprint in detail: “I haven’t seen the stage finish on TV yet. It was a very confused sprint. Until the final kilometre it wasn’t clear which team would take matters into hand. There were lots of riders slowing down because they’d finished their work, and lots of others moving up. I was still behind at 500m. That’s how I intended, because on the previous circuit I saw that there was a headwind, so you needed to come out of the group quickly. At 200m I darted ahead of the others. When I saw Greipel, I didn’t want to wait. When I saw I had managed to get past him, I began to believe in myself, and as you see the finish line approach, you feel a surge of strength.”

Kittel’s Crash: “I didn’t see Kittel’s fall: I hope he isn’t injured, I stayed cool, Heinrich Haussler and Roger Kluge kept me out of the wind until 800m to go, and that was a great advantage. reaching the sprint fresh.”

Dedication: “This win I dedicate to Kristof Goddaert, who died a few weeks ago [18 February] in a road accident. He was often my room-mate. It has been very hard for the team, but it has left us more united than ever and gave us an extra something. We want to be close to those who are close to him.”

Milano-Sanremo: “To be sincere, before this win, it was 90% certain that I wouldn’t ride Milano-Sanremo. That may change now. Bearing in mind the change of route, I could try, although I still consider it a bit too hard for me: it ’s long, and the final kilometres are pretty difficult. But I won’t deny I’d like to be there.”
 
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)
Kittel’s Crash: “You saw more than me. I was behind Kittel when he crashed at a narrow little roundabout, 2 kilometres from the finish. The peloton split because of it. Some gentlemen in the peloton gave me a hand to move up, but I got to the front with 500m to go, before the sprint even started, and I was already on the limit.”

TIrreno-Adriatico press release

Results from the second stage in Italy