One's joy, the other's sorrow. This is how the second part of the day in Tirreno-Adriatico can be summed up, in which Matteo Pelucchi (IAM) was able to celebrate a surprise winner. The 25-year-old fought his victory cleverly. After breaking away from the slipstream of André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) in the sprint, he kept him and Frenchman Arnaud Demaré (FDJ.fr) at a distance. Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) was unable to engage in the sprint but retained his top spot in the overall standings. Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) from Arnstadt, who fell in the last few kilometers and therefore played no part in the final, was a little more plagued by suffering. He initially unabashedly let his frustration run wild before later apologizing via Twitter.
The 166-kilometer stage from San Vincenzo to Cascina initially featured a top quintet, which included David de la Cruz, a rider from the German NetApp-Endura team. However, the group was unlucky after Omega Pharma-QuickStep organized the pursuit in the field.
Result
1. Matteo Pelucchi (IAM) 3:56:12
2. Arnaud Demare (FDJ.fr) 0:00:00
3. André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) 0:00:00
4. Sam Bennett (NetApp - Endura) 0:00:00
5. Peter Sagan (Cannondale) 0:00:00
Total
1. Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 4:16:25
2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 0:00:00
3. Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 0:00:00
4. Mark Renshaw (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 0:00:00
5. Alessandro Petacchi (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 0:00:02
[Photo: Bettini Photo / Lampre-Merida]