Richie Porte kept his GC options open in Tirreno-Adriatico when he safely finished in the bunch in yesterday's first sprint stage of the race. The Australian will have a similar tactic for today's stage but expects a trickier finale to require more attentiveness.

 

Richie Porte came through a scrappy sprint unscathed as Matteo Pelucchi claimed a surprise victory on the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.

 

Porte was well marshalled throughout a tight and tense finale as the sprint trains battled for supremacy in Cascina, and rolled home in a sizeable front group after Pelucchi had claimed the biggest victory of his career.

 

The IAM Cycling rider went toe to toe with the best sprinters in the business and came out on top by latching onto Andre Greipel’s wheel in the last 200 metres and then rounding the Lotto Belisol man before edging out Arnaud Demare (FDJ) at the line.

 

Marcel Kittel was the only big-name favourite absent from the sprint as the Giant-Shimano rider took a tumble with 2.5km to go, but Pelucchi took full advantage by outpacing some equally-prestigious rivals for his first success of the season.

 

The result had little bearing on the general classification which ensured Mark Cavendish (Omega Phama – Quick-Step) retained his grip on the blue jersey, even though the Manxman had sat up in the sprint just as Pelucchi made his stage-winning move. Porte meanwhile, remains just 27 seconds off the pace with five of his Team Sky team-mates.

 

Back on the team bus, Sports Director Dario Cioni admitted it had been a relatively straightforward day for his charges despite being a few riders short at the finish.

 

“We were able to sit in the peloton for most of the day which allowed us to conserve our energies ahead of the mountains stages to come. The road was rolling throughout the day and Alex [Dowsett] deserves praise because for a while there it looked as though he might stay away.

 

“He cracked in the last 10km though and then it was a very fast finish. Our goal was not to lose time with Richie and we achieved that. We lost Bernie [Eisel] with a puncture in the last 20km and Dario [Cataldo] got caught up in a crash, but fortunately he was OK, and he didn’t go down.

 

“The others did a good job for Richie and we’re still in the hunt.”

 

Cioni expects Friday’s stage to end in another sprint, but he admitted a sharp rise on the final finishing loops could splinter the field.

 

“That’s the main thing we’ll be looking out for, and it’ll certainly spice things up,” he added. “I’d expect a punchier sprinter to come out on top tomorrow. There could be some gaps opening up so it’s important we stay near the front and keep Richie well positioned again.”