André Greipel takes the second stage in a bunch sprint and overtakes Lukas Pöstlberger in the fight for Pink. Lukas keeps his lead in the Young Rider classification and therefore changes Pink to White for tomorrow’s stage. In the GC he still is in second place on the leaderboard.
Today’s second stage took the peloton from Olbia to Tortolí over 221 demanding kilometers. The stage featured some hilly sections, two KOM´s, two intermediate sprints and more than 3000 meters of climbing. The last 10 flat kilometers, including a long finishing straight, promised another fast finish for the sprinters in the peloton.
From drop of the flag, a group of 5 riders attacked. The group were on the head of the race for the most time of the stage, with a lead of up to 6 minutes over the peloton. BORA – hansgrohe was desperate to fight for the Pink Jersey and took early control over the pace in the bunch.
Cesare Benedetti, leader in the KOM classification, was one of the men pulling in the peloton. He skipped his own chances in the fight for the Blue Jersey, to fully support the race leader Pöstlberger.
In the downhill it was Bahrein-Merida setting a exceptional high pace in the bunch. BORA – hansgrohe was also well placed in the peloton to keep the Pink Jersey out of trouble. In the end Tortoli saw the expected bunch sprint, with A. Greipel taking the win and also the Pink Jersey. Lukas Pöstlberger also tried to go for some important bonus seconds, but couldn’t match the speed of the sprint specialists. He finished in 15th place and keeps the lead in the Young Rider classification, therefore he changes his Pink Jersey for the White one going into tomorrow’s third stage of the 100th Giro. In the GC the young Austrian is now in second place on the leaderboard.
“We decided to try again something on the last kilometers if possible. Rudi delivered me perfectely on the last k, put the pace was already too high to go again. Lotto-Soudal did a perfect leadout and I tried to go Greipels wheel then. But I didn’t have the legs or speed to challenge him in the end. It was a wonderful day in Pink here in the 100th edition of the Giro. Now I still have the White Jersey, for me that’s perfect and I think we can be satisfied.” – Lukas Pöstlberger
“After the great success yesterday, we wanted to keep on fighting. We planned to go for Sam and also to defend the Maglia Rosa but unfortunately Sam felt not good today. However, I am so proud of the whole team like I was also yesterday. They all did a fantastic job, they were the whole day in front of the peloton and in the final they supported Lukas very well to defend the Maglia Rosa. Through the great job, which the boys did we were able to keep the white jersey, which makes me really proud!” – Christian Pömer, sports director
