Giro d'Italia 2016: Stage 2 Results, Latest Standings and Highlights
Marcel Kittel won his first stage of the 2016 Giro d'Italia on Saturday, easily beating the pack in a bunch sprint in Stage 2.
The German is among the favourites to win this year's points competition and is expected to grab several more stages in the coming weeks. Arnaud Demare finished second on Saturday, while Sacha Modolo took third place.
Here's a look at the stage highlights, courtesy of Cyclingnewstv:
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Kittel came close to taking the overall lead as well, but he finished the day one second behind Tom Dumoulin. Here’s a look at the results from Stage 2, courtesy of Sky Sports Cycling:
The overall standings:
After Friday’s short prologue, the 99th Giro d’Italia truly got under way with Stage 2 on Saturday. The peloton faced a relatively short, flat ride from Arnhem to Nijmegen that favoured the sprinters.
With virtually no wind blowing over the flat course, conditions were optimal for an early break, and Omar Fraile, Giacomo Berlato and Maarten Tjallingii tried their luck with the first breakaway of this year’s Giro.
The three quickly built a lead well over 10 minutes, as the peloton, led by Etixx-QuickStep, kept the pace low. With the first points for the red and blue jersey available, the lead group did a fantastic job working together and grabbing all of the intermediate sprints.
Halfway through Saturday’s stage, the sprint teams picked up the pace, and the massive lead the three had built quickly vanished. Giant-Alpecin and Etixx-QuickStep did most of the work, before the riders protecting the GC contenders took over.
At the front of the race, Fraile crossed the one climb the peloton faced first, ensuring he became the first rider to wear this year’s blue jersey. The peloton caught up with the break shortly after, but just before it happened, Berlato jumped.
Cannondale Pro Team’s official Twitter account didn’t see it coming:
ProCyclingNews.eu thought the Italian was the clear favourite to win the award for the most combative rider:
Berlato was caught just before the final local lap, and the sprint teams chose this moment to rise to the front of the pack and prepare for the finish.
Kittel waited late for his jump but immediately took a lead of several bike-lengths over his competitors, and he was never troubled after that.
Per the Giro's official Twitter account, Kittel was quite satisfied with his performance:
Dumoulin did well to retain the pink jersey, but Kittel is expected to take the overall lead during Sunday's stage, before the race opens up and hits less flat terrain. Kittel will start the day in the red jersey, while Fraile leads the pack for the mountain classification.
The peloton can expect a similar stage on Sunday as the race returns to Arnhem before the first rest day. Another bunch sprint seems likely on the flat roads of the Netherlands, unless the wind plays more of a factor.
Monday will be a rest day, before the riders hit the rolling roads of Calabria on Tuesday.
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