photo credits @ Twitter
IAM Cycling’s Matteo Pelucchi claimed stage 2 of this year’s Tour de Pologne, after beating Marcel Kittel (Giant Alpecin) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) with a perfectly timed sprint during the final 500 meters of today’s stage ending in Dabrowa-Gornicza.
However, Caleb Ewan (Orica GreenEdge) crashed hard during the stage, after touching wheels with Sacha Modolo (Lampre Merida) during the waning moments of the race.
Modolo meanwhile, managed to stay upright, however, most of the peloton got caught up in the melee just before line.
Race Highlights
A small breakaway group containing Kamil Gradek (Poland), Adrian Kurek (CCC Sprandi), Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Sander Armée (Lotto-Soudal) and Martijn Keizer (LottoNL-Jumbo), got underway during the early part of today’s stage.
From there, the escapees went on to establish a modest advantage of around two minutes over the peloton.
However, with 20 kilometers remaining, the breakaway group was caught, with team Astana hitting the front and leading the charge during the final 10 kilometers.
With their man Andrea Guardini looking poised for victory, the Italian rider suddenly found himself surrounded by the hard charging Orica GreenEdge team, with Ewan quickly coming to the fore.
But, a clashing of wheels with Modolo brought the curtains down on the Aussie’s chances, while chaos also struck most of the peloton – reducing it to just 12 riders to contest the final bunch sprint.
Stage 2 Results ITA 1 PELUCCHI, Matteo (IAM CYCLING) 3:20:12 GER 2 KITTEL, Marcel (GIANT – ALPECIN) ITA 3 NIZZOLO, Giacomo (TREK FACTORY RACING) BEL 4 BOECKMANS, Kris (LOTTO SOUDAL) ITA 5 MODOLO, Sacha (LAMPRE – MERIDA) ITA 6 BONIFAZIO, Niccolo (LAMPRE – MERIDA) ITA 7 PUCCIO, Salvatore (SKY) DEN 8 HANSEN, Lasse Norman (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) AUS 9 DOCKER, Mitchell (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 5 FRA 10 TURGOT, Sébastien (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 1:17 NOR 11 SKJERPING, Kristoffer (CANNONDALE – GARMIN)
General Classification after Stage 2 GER 1 KITTEL, Marcel (GIANT – ALPECIN)
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