2012 Giro d'Italia Stage 2

May 6, Stage 2: Herning 206km

Cavendish sprints to stage 2 Giro d'Italia victory

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-2/results)

Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) won the second stage of the 2012 Giro d'Italia, taking a small group sprint. A crash on the final corner split the peloton, with only the top sprinters coming through to the end. Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) was second, and Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ-Big Mat) was a surprise third.

Taylor Phinney (BMC) successfully defended his leader's jersey, but had to work hard at the end. He dropped his chain after a crash with 8km to go, and had to make up a 30-second gap to get back to the field.

"I just found myself on the ground, having touched wheels and lost balance," he said. "Then I couldn't get my chain back on. So I kind of made a second prologue effort. I was quite scared there for a second that I was going to lose the jersey."

Teammates Alessandro Ballan and Danilo Wyss brought him back to the field with 4.6km to go.  “I had a lot of adrenaline going," he said.

Cavendish praised his team, as always, starting with Ian Stannard, who “did 150 kilometres alone reeling in the break – he did incredible.”

Going into the finale, “Everybody handled it well and we stayed together as a team. I was really looked after at the finish and kept sheltered. Geraint took me perfect and went exactly when he was supposed to. I was able to come off him and win the stage so I'm very, very happy."

A trio in the break

As expected, a break got away early on this cool day. Alfredo Balloni (Farnese Vini), Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol) and Miguel Rubiano (Androni Giacattoli-Venezuela) took off and quickly built up a huge lead. The gap topped out at 13:15 with 145km to go.

The field was relaxed on this first road stage of the Giro, and took its time with the chase. Sprinters' teams Rabobank, Orica-GreenEdge and Sky shared the work at the head of the peloton with BMC riding protectively around race leader Phinney.

The stage actually featured a climb, ranked category 4, small but still enough to establish the first king of the mountains. Balloni attacked out of the three-man group, followed by Rubiano, and took the points which would give him the mountains classification jersey at the end of the day.

The gap continued to drop and the peloton crossed over only some five minutes later. With 60km to go, it had dropped all the way to barely two minutes.

Sky was often to be seen at the front of the field, with Cavendish's world championship rainbow stripes in the first row. A crash near the the rear of the field took a handful of riders down, as the gap hovered around the 30-second mark.

Within seconds after crossing under the 40km banner, the field caught the three escapees - rather early, for a mass sprint stage. So, of course, the next attack came almost immediately, from Danish rider Lars Ytting Bak (Lotto Belisol).

Bak had built up a gap of 44 seconds with 30km to go, and that was about as high as it got. The peloton was perfectly willing to let him go it alone in the wind, but was careful not to let the gap grow too big and brought it down to around the 30 second mark.

Eventually Bak realized he wouldn't be soloing in to a stage win, and relaxed. Just before the 17km marker, he was absorbed back into the field. Sky stayed at the head of things, with Astana close behind them.

A messy ending

With only 8km to go, Phinney saw his dreams starting to go down the drain. He dropped his chain, and it seemed like it took forever until help came and got it fixed. He was over 30 seconds down and had to push it to the limit to get back to the peloton. Teammate Danilo Wyss dropped back quickly to help pull the maglia rosa back to the main group. Finally, three teammates escorted him into the field and then up to the front again.

Garmin-Barracuda had meanwhile taken charge of the lead work, and the sprinters' teams started lining up with 3.5km to go.

Garmin-Barracuda opened the sprint, with GreenEdge taking over. A crash took out most of the field with about 150m to go and split the field, leaving the sprint to a handful of riders. Cavendish didn't really need the advantage, as he waited for the right timing and pulled through a hole to claim the victory.

The crash happened just after the final curve leading into the finish, when Theo Bos' wheel slipped away. He flew into Katusha's Alexander Kristoff, who was launched into the barrier, but eventually crossed the finish line with blood dripping down his face.

Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling	4:53:12
2	Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
3	Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
4	Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Barracuda
5	Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
6	Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team
7	Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team
8	Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
9	William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
10	Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling

Santos Tour Down Under Results

Gerrans crowned Tour Down Under champion in Adelaide

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tourdownunder/stage-6/results_)

Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) has taken his third Tour Down Under victory, and his fourth win for the week after a text book sprint down King William Road. Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) tried to compete but was unable to come by the German's wheel on the uphill sprint. Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) was a close third.

The bunch finish was nearly spoiled however by Cameron Meyer (GreenEdge) who made a bold solo move with a little over a lap to go. Meyer's overall hopes had been dashed yesterday when he missed the select front group on the first time up Old Willunga Hill. The field would not be denied, particulalry Andre Greipel's Lotto Belisol team who put the him in a perfect position - the German finishing off with ease.

Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge) meanwhile did all he needed to, successfully finishing in the bunch to take out his second overall title after his career defining 2006 triumph while riding for the French AG2R-Prévoyance team.

For his GreenEdge team, it was another tick in the box after their recent successes in the Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships and the Jayco Bay Classic Series in Victoria.

The team set out to take the overall title, and despite not winning a stage, can be wholly satisified with a truly team performance that gives them the early lead in the prestigious WorldTour.

"It’s just fantastic," said a clearly excited Gerrans at the finish.

"I can’t thank my team mates enough. I was pleasantly surprised when I was told I had the lead [yesterday]. It’s such a fantastic victory for GreenEDGE. We couldn’t ask for a more perfect way to start the season."

"It’s an even sweeter victory than my first one here in 2006. It gives me the opportunity to thank for the first time the Ryan family and Shayne Bannan for putting this team together. It couldn’t be a better start for us."

Stage winner Greipel was similalry appreciative of his Lotto-Belisol team who have shown definitively to be the best organised when it comes to a bunch dash.

"What can I say," said Greipel. "Lotto-Belisol has just been amazing in leading me out to my third win of the week. It looks easy but it’s not. I was nowhere in the front on GC this year but I’m happy with the sprint finishes."

Greipel's stage win was not enough to take out the points classificaiton however. His three stage wins were cancelled out by his absences on Willunga and in Tanunda, ultimately costing him vital points that Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) was able to bank. The Norwegian would have liked a win but was happy nonetheless.

"It’s an early start to the season and to be on top form now is difficult.I’m happy to be on okay form but I can still get better."

UniSA-Australia had plenty of reason to celebrate, taking out the King of the Moutains for the second year running as well as cleaning up with Rohan Dennis who also took out best young rider.

How it unfolded

With the overall tied on time, and Gerrans a clear leader on countback, GreenEdge were happy to see a sizeable break form very early in the 20 lap circuit race in Adelaide.

It included Bernard Sulzberger, Jay McCarthy (UniSA-Australia), Luke Durbridge, Cameron Meyer (GreenEdge), Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Barracuda), Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol), Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil-DCM), Mathew Hayman (Sky), Gorka Izagirre (Euskatel-Euskadi), Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Davide Cimolai (Lampre-ISD), Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan), William Bonnet (FDJ-BigMat), Sergio Paulinho and Jonas Jorgensen (Saxo Bank).

They built up an advantage of close to 40 seconds before Rabobank who had missed the move came to the front to bring them back.

With the group within reach Michael Matthews soloed across the final 10 second gap, enough to encourage the peloton that the break should come back into the fold.

With the first intermediate sprint looming and dangerous seconds on the line, GreenEdge sent Luke Durbridge up the road again and he was joined by Davide Cimolai. Cimolai took out the sprint from Durbridge who didn't contest. Jack Bauer (Garmin-Barracuda) jumped out of the peloton to take third.

Once again the speed of the peloton after the prime was enough to nullify the break, and it was all together once more.

Bakelants makes his charge

Jan Bakelants (Radioshack-Nissan), who before today sat seventh on GC, used the lull to make a bid for the bonus second on offer at the second sprint.  He needed just two seconds to get in front of Edvald Boasson Hagen and picked up all three on offer, ahead of Cameron Meyer (GreenEdge) who managed to bridge to Bakelants solo.

Shortly thereafter Romain Sicard (Euskatel-Euskadi) also bridged to make it a trio of strong riders at the front. As the laps ticked by, and the gap failed to reduce Bakelants was becoming a real threat to the overall lead of Simon Gerrans. He was just 16 seconds behind Gerrans at this stage and with the 40 second advantage the break held was virtual leader.

Justifiably he got very little help from Sicard as the race entered the closing kilometres, with Meyer playing ticket collector on the back.

The bunch was having none of it however and with Lotto-Belisol, Lampre-ISD and Liquigas-Cannondale ramping things up for their sprinters the gap rapidly fell away.

Inside 6 kilometres to go and Bakelants decided to raise the white flag, happy enough with his sixth overall. Meyer meanwhile wanted the stage win. He went alone and entered the final 4 kilometre lap with a small advantage.

Though Meyer's fight was admirable, nothing would deny the bunch on the fast city circuit, and with half a lap to go it was all together for a bunch sprint. Lotto-Belisol best placed their man, and it was Andre Greipel who took the sprint from Renshaw and Petacchi.

Gerrans crossed the line safely in the main field to take the overall.

Stage 6 Results:

1	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol	1:56:48
2	Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank
3	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
4	Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ - BigMat
5	Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar
6	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
7	Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil -DCM
8	Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
9	Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas - Cannondale
10	Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale

Overall Results:

1	Simon Gerrans (Aus) GreenEDGE	20:46:12
2	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar
3	Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:08
4	Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling	0:00:14
5	Rohan Dennis (Aus) UNI SA - Australia
6	Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:16
7	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling	0:00:18
8	Javier Moreno (Spa) Movistar	0:00:23
9	Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank	0:00:29
10	Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha	0:00:32

The Pre Tour Down Under

Cancer Council Classic: Adelaide East, Australia

Greipel makes show of force in Tour Down Under prologue

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/cancer-council-classic-2012/results)

German Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) has given his Tour Down Under rivals an early warning sign that he means business in 2012, looking almost untouchable in the final sprint to take out the Down Under Classic in Adelaide.

Sky rider Edvald Boasson Hagen opened the sprint after Lotto-Belisol's last lead-out man Greg Henderson swung off but when Greipel put the foot down he seemed to effortlessly sail past the Norwegian - harking back to the way he dominated the 2008, and 2010 tours. Heinrich Haussler completed the top three.

Asked what today’s result was an indication of heading into the first WordTour event of the year, Greipel was frank.

"That we didn’t sleep in the winter," he grinned. "I tried to get a lead out train for this season and we got Greg Henderson in the team.

"I worked with him pretty good in previous seasons so he is a main part in the success of the team for me. But I can't forget Jurgen Roelandts, Marcel Sieberg and Adam Hansen – they are all really important to keep the train going. I think we’ve shown a pretty good effort today."

"I think the guys were awesome. I just needed to stay on the wheels. I saw Rabobank and Sky - they couldn’t pass so I think that meant we have a lot of horsepower in our team.

"Today takes a bit of pressure off. Especially for the young riders who are in Mallorca at the moment. Hopefully it will give them a bit of extra motivation to train well and to keep the Lotto streak running."

Greg Henderson, who was instrumental in positioning Greipel for the sprint was full of emotion at the stage finish, enraptured by his German team mate's performance.

"You know how much power he’s got. I’m leading out at 70km/h and he just comes past me," said Henderson. "I just don’t understand how anyone can go so fast. You’ve seen it. He’s right up there with the likes of Cavendish. The two are going to have a great rivalry this year."

Boasson Hagen who many have tipped as a pre-race favourite on the hillier parcours of this year's race explained that he isn't quite up to top competition form - yet.

"We lost Chris Sutton in the lead up to the final turn, I'm not sure what happened but that's cycling."

"Everyone in the team did a great job, so at least we can be satisfied with that."

The finale of the race was dominated by three teams, with Lampre-ISD, Rabobank and Lotto-Belisol all taking turns stringing the field out. On the penultimate lap Sky also arrived to make it a crowded run to the line. Renshaw punctured on the final lap and that left Lampre-ISD, Lotto-Belisol and Sky to fight it out.

Lotto-Belisol would not be thrown off and with less than a kilometre to go they had their man firmly placed near the front. In the final duel, two riders; Greipel and Boasson Hagen went head-to-head. Greipel however was clearly a level above and sporting a skin suit, he made the well-credentialled Boasson Hagen look almost amateurish in an ominous sign for the week ahead.

Earlier in the day, neo-pro Nathan Haas (Garmin-Barracuda) showed some class to take three of the four intermediate sprints, with Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) taking out the fourth.

Haas was part of nine-man break that featured throughout the mid-stages of the race. The break never held more than 25 seconds over the chasing bunch, with Lotto-Belisol, Rabobank and GreenEdge keeping a watchful eye at the front of the peloton.

On each and every sprint prime Haas jumped away easily from his fellow breakaway riders. Impressively he made a reasonably renowned fast-man in William Bonnet (FDJ-BigMat) look slow.

When the break was caught with around seven laps to go, the sprint teams began to ramp up for what was a thrilling finale.

An honourable mention goes out to UniSA-Australia rider Steele Von Hoff who finished in front of some big names including Alessandro Petacchi in his first WorldTour outing.

Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol	1:03:17
2	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
3	Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda
4	Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar
5	Steele Von Hoff (Aus) UNI SA-Australia
6	Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
7	Chris Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling
8	José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Movistar
9	Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto-Belisol
10	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-ISD