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.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Mikel Landa: This victory is more than I expected

Mikel Landa stormed into the overall lead at the Giro del Trentino with a rousing victory on stage two.

 

The Spaniard accelerated hard on the final uphill drag into Anras, leaping off the wheel of team-mate Gianni Moscon to open out a stage-winning advantage on Austrian soil.

 

Despite a late resurgence from Sergey Firsanov (Gazprom Rusvelo), Landa held on to claim victory by four seconds, with Damiano Cunego rounding out the podium placings at 13 seconds.

 

That all added up to a 10-second lead for the Team Sky man at the race's half-way point, with his time bonus putting Landa clear of Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), while Firsanov remains in touch a further five seconds back.

 

After some early pace-setting, Team Sky ensured their leader was protected before moving to the front with numbers on the approach to the final climb. David Lopez was among the riders drilling it on the flat, but when the late climb arrived it was Moscon who set the initial pace, putting in a sterling turn despite an early crash.

 

After the finish Landa, who also moved into the green mountains jersey, admitted the win had been a pleasant surprise.

 

He explained: "Those short climbs are really nice for me and they are where I can make the most difference. This result is more than I expected.

 

"The team did some really good work for me and I felt really good. We want to try and win this race.

 

“Short climbs are really good for me to make a difference. I not sure of final gaps but I gained more than I expected. The team did a good job for me. It’s good to win because we’re preparing for the Giro d’Italia together. Winning this stage makes me happy.

 

"I'm really happy right now, but for sure, some riders will try and attack tomorrow because the last climb is close to the finish line. We have the hardest climb of the race on the last day as well, so I expect more attacks there."

 

“I was not sure this second stage would have been enough to make a difference. Instead the over 200 km in the legs finally exacted their toll. This climb was perfect to me, and we had planned to push hard from the beginning and test my rivals on the climb. When I turned back and saw that several were on the back foot, I kicked out.

 

“I love these places, and they are also bringing me good luck. I hope this will not be the only day for me to wear this jersey: I don’t know if I will be the first Spaniard to win Giro del Trentino Melinda, but I certainly feel closer to that goal today.”

 

"I am very happy to have my signature imprinted on the Anras finish line. I thought it would be hard to make a difference, but the 200km race was felt in the legs. The final climb was good for me. I wanted this win. I already won at the Tour of the Basque Country and to win here gives me a great satisfaction,” he told Tuttobiciweb.

 

”It's not an easy gap to recover for the general classification, but Vincenzo is dangerous. If he has the strength in the next few days, for sure he will attack. We will now have the weight of the race on our shoulders but if I am fine tomorrow I'm not going to wait.

 

This is a very beautiful region, there are so many mountains and generally I am well here. I have fond memories of these areas, I am sure I will have a good memory also from this edition of Trentino.

 

"I started racing recently, the condition improves day after day, I still lack a bit of endurance and race pace. I still have room for growth for the Giro.

 

”My teammates were always attentive, they rode better as a team. They left me with 2 km to go. It was as we had planned this morning and it was perfect. With them at my side everything is easier. "

 

Sergey Firsanov confirms form with second place in Trentino mountains

Gazprom Rusvelo's sports director Mikele Devoti said:

 

"The stage was very fast. From the very start 6 riders formed a breakaway, and among them was Alexander Kolobnev. But, after 10 kilometers other riders caught up and a new breakaway of 8 riders was formed, including Alexander Foliforov. In fact, this breakaway lasted almost until the end up the stage.

 

"Two teams - Astana and Gazprom RusVelo - led the group throughout the stage. Gazprom RusVelo racers worked very professionally, protecting the team leader, Sergey Firsanov.

 

"At the beginning of the final ascent (4 km from the finish) a large group was gathered and was immediately attacked by Team Sky ride Mikel Landa, who gained an advantage of about 20 seconds. Nibali, Firsanov, Pozzovivo and Bardet were monitoring the situation. Soon, however, Firsanov saw that the others weren't reacting to the attack and rode ahead to catch up to Mikel Landa.

 

"At the finish, Sergey Firsanov was behind by just 4 seconds. In the overall standings he is in third place, behind Mikel Landa by 15 seconds."

 

Damiano Cunego back on track with great third place in Trentino

Nippo Vini Fantini are protagonists in the Giro del Trentino. After the good team time trial on the first Damiano Cunego was third after Giacomo Berlato had been in the break

 

"Despite my 35 years of age, I'm still here to fight with the young guys,” he told Tuttobiciweb. “I am happy with the result which comes after a good job on Mount Etna to prepare for the Giro. For this team a result like this isis as good as a victory, but I do not settle for that. In the coming days I'll try again. As I said I will rider for another two years, then I'll stay within this team in another capacity.

 

"It is too bad because I started the final ascent a little too far back. But here it is a battle every time to be in the top positions at the right time and you have to take the crazy risks. My teammates then did well to bring me to the front.  I climbed well but now Landa was gone. When he opened the throttle, no one could follow.

 

"I'm surprised with how I did because I am back from two weeks on Etna and I knew that it would be hard to reap the fruits already here. The approach to the Giro proceeds in the best way. Of course, I ride with a little fear. The memory of the crash at Strade Bianche is still fresh. I fractured the fifth metacarpal and it is natural to have a little fear of hitting your hand somewhere and get injured again. The Giro? I go the with the spirit of always fighting.”

 

Sports director Stefano Giuliani has good feelings from the team attitude of the first two stages.

 

“I’m first of all happy satisfied with yesterday’s time trial, where the riders listened to the strategy by working on clean lines in the first part and making a strong progression in the second part. Today it was good job of Giacomo Berlato who confirmed that he is in good condition after Amstel Gold Race and then our leader Damiano Cunego was there when the race was harder. In this season this 3rd place represents the best result, but if we keep on working in this direction, it will be just the first signal of great things we can do.”

 

Jakob Fuglsang takes over from Nibali in Trentino

“I started the final climb a bit behind in the peloton,” said Jakob Fuglsang. “But then I managed to stay with the first and I finished fifth at the finish line. I'm happy with my race.

 

“Tomorrow the climbs are best suited to our characteristics and we will try to regain the lead in the general classification.”

 

In the overall standings, the Danish rider is second, only 10 seconds behind stage winner and new race leader Mikel Landa while Michele Scarponi is in fourth position with a 22 seconds gap.

 

Sport director Paolo Slongo is satisfied: "We come from two weeks of training camp in the mountains and some - such as Vincenzo Nibali – have not raced for about a month. The team, however, has done well and we are growing ahead of the Giro d'Italia.”

 

Excellent performance by Bora-Argon 18 youngsters in Trentino

In today’s second stage of the Giro del Trentino, almost everything worked out like planmed for Bora-Argon 18. José Mendes was the one from the team to jump into the 7-rider breakaway of the day. After a difficult start to the season, the Portuguese rider is on a good path to find his good shape. But with Astana controlling the peloton, the gap to the leaders never increased to more than 3 minutes. Mendes was the last rider of the breakaway to get caught, trying to fight on his own. His effort did pay off by taking the lead in the combination classification.

 

In the first group behind the stage winner, Bora-Argon 18 finished with two riders in the top ten, with Patrick Konrad in 9th and Emanuel Buchmann in 10th place. Both showed good legs on the last climb, with Buchmann also on the attack with 2k to go. In the general classification the two are also placed next to each other with Konrad in 7th and Buchmann in 8th place at 0:26 behind Landa. Therefore the position is still promising before tomorrow’s queens stage.

 

“Bartosz (Huzarski) and CeCe (Benedetti) protected me really well before the last climb. Sky made their move pretty early, therefore everything split up. It has been an advantage that I did knew the climb from the 2012Tour of Austria. I talked to Emu (Buchmann) that there was a chance to attack when it got a little less steep with 2k to go. In the end the result is great in front of my home crowds. It is like a relief after the cold I had in Tirreno. Now I feel strong again and can be optimistic for tomorrow,” Patrick Konrad said.

 

“Well, I was a little too far back in the peloton when we entered the climb. Because everything split up pretty fast, I had to fight my way back up the first group. But I had really good legs and also tried to attack with 2k to go. Patrick told me that this was a good section to give it a try. It did not work out in the end, but a 10th place is really good, and because longer climbs suit my style even better, I am very confident for tomorrow,” Emanuel Buchmann said.

 

“Our tactics really work out well today. We decided to just try to jump into bigger groups, with just José (Mendes) also trying it with smaller ones. It was great that he made it then into today’s breakaway. It is also good to see him getting back to good shape. Also good to see Patrick (Konrad) with good legs in his home country. He and Emu (Buchmann) did a strong performance in the final. But also Bartosz (Huzarski) and CeCe (Benedetti) did a great job before entering the last climb,” Enrico Poitschke, sports director, said.