Mikel Landa (Sky) proved that he is back on track after an illness-marred start to the season by claiming an impressive solo win in stage 2 of the Giro del Trentino. Having attacked right from the bottom of the short, steep ramp to the finish in Anras, he held off a late comeback from Sergey Firsanov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) to put four seconds into the Russian, with Damiano Cunego (Nippo-Vini Fantini) crossing the line in third. Landa is the new leaders of the race and put 32 seconds into Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) who could only manage 21st.

The start to Mikel Landa’s career at Sky has definitely been what he was hoping for. The Basque fell ill in February and for the second year in a row he had to postpone his season start to the second half of March.

Many were questioning whether Landa would have time to be ready for the Giro d’Italia where he is set to lead his British team and even though he won a stage at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, the Basque race showed that he still had work to do before he could realistically aim for victory in Italy. However, the Spaniard sent a very strong warning to all his rivals, most notably Vincenzo Nibali, by claiming an impressive solo win in the first mountain stage of the traditional warm-up race, Giro del Trentino.

Landa had played a waiting game all day while Astana had reeled in a 7-rider break and they didn’t show themselves until the fight for position started inside the final 20km. The long 220km stage had an explosive finish on a short 3.6km ramp that had double-digit gradient for most of the time, only disrupted by a small descent in the second half.

Sky won the battle and it was the British team that led the group onto the lower slopes, with Gianni Moscon setting the pace for Landa. They were passed by Tanel Kangert who was ready to set up Nibali but when the Estonian ended up creating a gap behind the two Sky riders.

Moscon went straight to the front and while Kangert was looking back, Nibali was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was Sergey Firsanov who led the chase and with Romain Bardet and Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r) on his wheel, he joined the three leaders.

The trio had barely made the junction before Landa made his move. Firsanov and Bardet responded but they quickly had to surrender. Landa surged clear and increased his gap to 10 seconds while Pozzovivo rejoined the two chasers.

Landa added another 5 seconds to his lead before Egan Bernal (Androni) bridged the gap from a bigger group that was led by Hugh Carthy (Caja Rural), to the chase trio. They were starting to get closer and as they hit the flat section near the top, they were just 11 seconds behind.

Firsanov surged clear and as he hit the steep ramp in the finale, he was closing in fast. Landa had to dig very deep to keep him at bay but he had something left in reserve, crossing the line with a four-second advantage. The rest of the chasers were caught by a bigger group and it was Damiano Cunego who crossed the line in third, 13 seconds behind Landa. Nibali had a disastrous day, losing 32 seconds in 21st.

Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) crossed the line in fifth but as Landa picked up 10 bonus seconds, he had to see the Sky leader take the overall lead with a 10-second advantage over the Dane. Landa will try to defend his position in tomorrow’s queen stage which includes a big mountain at the midpoint before the riders hit the Fai della Peganella in the finale. The top comes just 14km from the finish and from there it is a downhill run to the line.

A tough summit finish

The second stage of the Giro del Trentino was held on a 220.3km course that brought the riders from Arco to the Austrian city of Anras. It was a long, gradually rising road for most of the stage, with a single category 2 climb at the midpoint. In the end, the riders had to tackle a 3.6km ramp that included double-digit gradients for most of the time but had a short descent that led to the final steep 600m.

All 142 riders showed up early in the morning before they left Arco on a beautiful sunny day. As expected, many of the smaller teams were interested in joining the break, and therefore it was a quick start. After 11km of racing, Alexandr Kolobnev (Gazprom-RusVelo), Antonio Nibali (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Diego Rubio (Caja Rural), Davide Leone (D'Amico), Gian Marco Di Francesco (MG-KVIS) and Florian Schipflinger (Tirol ) got clear, but they never got a gap of more than 30 seconds. After 20km of racing, it was back together.

The break goes clear

It gave rise to new attacks, and this time it was Alexander Foliforov (Gazprom), Giacomo Berlato (Nippo), Cristian Rodriguez (South East), Jose Mendes (Bora-Argon 18), Flavio Cardoso (Funvic), Nicola Gaffurini (MG.Kvis) and Sebastian Schönberger (Tirol) who got clear. After a quick first hour with an average speed of 43.3 km/h, the peloton finally took a breather, and therefore they had built up a lead of 1.24 after 48 kilometers of racing.

Sky took control in the field, and they held the gap stable at 1.25 after 62km of racing. Skydive had missed break so they took over, and therefore the situation was completely unchanged at the 70km mark.

Moscon goes down

A crash in the peloton involved Gianni Moscon (Sky) and Florian Schipflinger (Tirol), and while the former could go on, the latter had to leave the race in an ambulance. At the same time, Skydive continued their chase and kept the lead completely stable.

Gaffurini beat Berlato and Schönberger in the intermediate sprint after 89.8 kilometers where the peloton passed 1.50 later. When Skydive slowly gave up, the lead began to grow. It was 2.18 after 105 km, 2.25 after 113km and 2.40 at the 126 km mark.

Astana take control

The peloton increased the speed, and the gap began to come down again. As Schonberger beat Mendes and Berlato in the first KOM spurt, it was down to 2 minutes. Here, the Italian sprinter Andrea Palini (Skydive) was the first rider to leave the race.

Astana took over in the peloton, and they held the lead stable between 1.30 and 2.30. However,  the break increased the speed significantly and at the entrance to the last 50km it had grown to 2.50.

Skydive come to the fore

The gap went out to 3.00, and this forced Astana to up the pace significantly. Eros Capecchi, Davide Malacarne, Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev and even race leader Valerio Agnoli traded pulls on the front and that had an effect. The gap had dropped to 2.04 as they entered the final 40km.

With 30km to go, there was only one minute left for the escapees and now Zhuliano Kamberaj (Skydive) were even working with the four Astana riders. Meanwhile, Cardoso sat up and fell back to the peloton.

Repeated attacks from Berlato

When the gap was down to 37 seconds, Berlato tried to make a solo move but he was quickly reeled in by his breakaway companions. He recovered for a few kilometres and then tried again but it was impossible to escape.

With 20km to go, the gap was still 40 seconds but as the fight for position intensified, it started to come down again. This prompted Foliforov to try a move but he had no luck either.

The break is caught

When the peloton had almost made the junction, Mendes finally managed to make a successful solo move but he would barely stay clear for a kilometre before it was all back together. Astana had now been swamped in the big fight for position and it was Sky, Ag2r and Drapac that gathered on the front.

Gazprom won the battle and it was Evgeny Shalunov who took control inside the final 10km. They failed to respond when Magno Nazaret (Brazil) made a strong solo move. He stayed clear for a few kilometres but when Sky hit the front with the entire team, he was quicly brought back. The British team was first to hit the climb and they delivered Landa to an impressive solo win.