Taylor Phinney survives a late scare to hold onto pink after a long, flat day in Denmark
Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) won a long, tough, sprint royale to take the second stage of the Giro d’Italia in Herning, after a long day in the flat Danish countryside. The World champion was expertly placed in the final three hundred metres by compatriot Geraint Thomas, but still had it all to do as he battled former teammates Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) and Mark Renshaw (Rabobank), as well as Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda), former rainbow jersey Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing), Roberto Ferrari (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela), Daniele Bennati (RadioShack-Nissan), and Giro debutant Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ-BigMat).
As a crash brought down a number of riders behind them with 500 metres to go, on the same right angle corner as used in the previous day’s time trial, the big sprinters of the race spread themselves across the road as battled up the slightly uphill straight. Cavendish almost looked to be beaten but, as the road levelled out, he seemed to accelerate again to pull clear, with Goss and Soupe leading the rest across the line just behind him.
“There was lots of wind on the coast,” Cavendish explained. “We were monitoring things and in control. We had Ian Stannard on the front; he did 150 kilometres alone reeling in the break - he did incredible.
“The guys were so great and they stayed together,” the World champion continued. “We had a mixture of the old guard and new people. Jez Hunt, Bernie Eisel – experienced guys with G [Thomas] too. And guys like Pete [Kennaugh] who are pretty new and who I’ve not worked with before.
“Everybody handled it well and we stayed together as a team,” Cavendish concluded. “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.”
There had been late drama at the end of the largely uneventful 206km stage, as maglia rosa Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing) crashed and dropped his chain with just 8km to go. Most of the 21-year-old’s team dropped back however, and he was able to rejoin the peloton and hold on to his race lead for another day.
“I enjoyed the first 20km when it was relaxed but for the rest of the stage I was on edge,” Phinney said in the press conference afterwards. “I was up there and being protected by my teammates but then things happen in front of me and I was the only guy to go down. My effort to get back on was taxing so I was happy to get back to the front.
“I think I’ll be more comfortable tomorrow. This was my first day in pink. I’ve got my crash out the way and I’m still in pink. Now we’ll take things day by day. That’s the plan.”
The break of the day came from Miguel Angel Rubiano (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela), Alfredo Balloni (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) and Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol), who escaped in the first kilometres. The trio built a lead of 13’15” by the time they reached the Traguardo Volante sprint in Søndervig after 48.7km, but this was chipped away steadily, mostly through the efforts of Team Sky and Orica-GreenEdge, and it was caught shortly after the 40km to go banner.
This was far too soon however, and invited counterattacks, so one duly came from local rider Lars Bak (Lotto-Belisol). The powerful Danish rouleur opened up a lead of 46 seconds as he passed under the 30km to go banner. Despite what was doubtless an act of goodwill towards the popular rider however - which allowed him a little glory on the roads of his home country - he was never going to be allowed the chance to stay away and he was reeled in with just over 17km to go, as Astana and Rabobank led the way.
With Bak back in the fold a number of teams began to fight for the front of the peloton, with Team Sky, Astana, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, and Farnese Vini-Selle Italia to the fore as they began the final 12.4km finishing circuit and, just as the speed was rising in the build up for the sprint, Phinney’s disaster struck.
Garmin-Barracuda took the peloton into the final kilometre, then a crash on the final corner saw Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) and Theo Bos (Rabobank) come down. The rest of the sprinters had already got around safely though, and the slightly uphill sprint saw them race up side by side until Cavendish pulled away in the final metres.
Three men creep away while the peloton sleeps
The first road stage of the 2012 Giro was to head west to the North Sea before turning north along the coast road. It then turned east and south again, back to Herning, to finish with a 12.4km circuit around the town. The finishing straight was to be the same one used in the previous day’s time trial, with that final bend coming with 500 metres to go.
Rubiano, Balloni and Kaisen tiptoed away from the sleepy peloton almost as soon as the flag was dropped at the start of the stage and, by the 33km point, had opened up a lead of 11’50”. Rubiano rolled over the Traguardo Volante sprint, in Søndervig after 48.7km - shortly after they had turned north up the coast - ahead of Kaisen and Balloni; the Cavendish-led peloton was 13’15” behind, but this was the point at which it began to wake up.
Rather than the predicted acceleration from the powerful teams of the flatlands, who had been expected to try to put the lightweight climbers teams under pressure, the light northwesterly crosswinds simply saw the BMC Racing Team - with help from Rabobank and Team Sky - steadily reel in the three-man break.
By the 67km point, the gap had been reduced to 12’15”, with many of the overall favourites positioned near the front in case the peloton split. It never did though, and the peloton simply had a comfortable, flat cruise along the chilly, but sunny, Danish coast.
With 110km to go the trio’s lead was still 9’49” but, as the race turned inland - having avoided incident - several teams came forward to help with the pacemaking; Team Sky, Liquigas-Cannondale, and Saxo Bank all took their turns and the pace began to go up.
On the 4th category climb at Osterbjerg with 88.1km to go - barely a pimple at just 47 metres high, but enough to see the mountains jersey awarded - Balloni hung back before attacking in the approach to the top. Rubiano stuck to his wheel as the summit approached, but was unable to come around and the Farnese Vini-Selle Italia rider took the line in front; ensuring that he would be swapping his flouro-yellow jersey for the new blue one at the end of the stage.
As Team Sky led the peloton over the top, the gap was down to 5’05”.
As teams fight for supremacy the break is over but a local boy escapes immediately
Team Sky and Orica-GreenEdge continued to set the pace at the head of the peloton and, with Liquigas-Cannondale and Lampre-ISD also battling for the front of the peloton, the pace ramped up even further. This dropped the gap to the three leaders down to less than a minute with 46km to go; the three leaders now seemed resigned to their imminent captured as they passed under the 45km to go banner.
Low speed in the peloton caused a crash at the back of the peloton however, with Polish champion Tomasz Marczynski (Vacansoleil-DCM), Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge) and Jackson Rodriguez (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela) among those to come down. Rodriguez needed a new wheel, and Marczynski was forced to change his shoes, but everybody was able to get back into the peloton without too much trouble.
The three fugitives were just metres ahead of the front of the peloton as they passed under the 40km to go banner and, a few hundred metres later their adventure was over.
Almost as soon as the break was caught another one predictably went, as Lars Bak (Lotto-Belisol) decided to fly the flag for the home nation. Nobody joined the Dane and the peloton watched him go; the rider that was more used to chasing down breakaways in the final kilometres of a stage was to become the fugitive himself for once.
With 35km to go Bak had opened up a gap of 30 seconds, but the peloton had him under control, with Liquigas-Cannondale, Team Sky and Orica-GreenEdge leading. The powerful Danish rouleur was proving difficult however, and stretched his advantage to almost 40 seconds in the next few kilometres.
Under the 30km to go banner Bak led by 46 seconds, as Orica-GreenEdge and Team Sky took up station on the front once more. The Dane was gradually reeled in however and, as Astana and Rabobank came through, his lead evaporated and he was caught with 17km to go.
All breaks are over and the sprint is on as Phinney survives his scare
Team Sky, Astana, Omega Pharma-Quick Step were all fighting for the lead as they approached the finish line for the first time, but it was Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) that crossed it first, to start the 12.4km finishing circuit.
The urban circuit was proceeding without incident when suddenly, with 8km to go, Phinney was stationary in the middle of the road and trying to replace his chain. The maglia rosa had come down in the middle of the peloton - miraculously nobody else seemed to have been affected - and he now faced the seemingly impossible task of rejoining the speeding peloton as it wound up for the finish.
At first the young American was alone and it looked as though the red and black team had forsaken him in favour of a Hushovd sprint finish. One by one Phinney’s teammates began to drop back however and they managed to pace him back up as they arrived at the 5km banner.
Garmin-Barracuda had won the battle for the front of the peloton, but Pozzato was still in there, although his sprinter Guardini was nowhere to be seen. As they hit the final corner at speed the first riders swept around safely, but Bos lost control of his rear wheel and came together with Kristoff and they both went down.
Thomas was leading Cavendish up the right side of the road, with South African champion Robbie Hunter leading Farrar up the middle; the two trains came together a little as the both swerved slightly, which saw Hushovd and Soupe surge forward, but the battle between former teammates Cavendish and Goss saw them take the front as the false flat began to level out.
On the flattening straight Cavendish began to creep forward, and was more than a length clear of Goss as he hit the line, with the others trailing behind them.