A little more than a week after winning his first professional race at the Clasica de Almeria, Sam Bennett proved that he can also mix it up with the cream of the sprinters. Yesterday he finished an excellent fourth in the high-level field at Tirreno-Adriatico.

The second stage of the long-distance Tirreno – Adriatico race took the 176 riders from San Vincenzo to Cascina today, passing by Livorno and Pisa. The 166-kilometer stage today was dominated by a five-man lead group. Among them was also NetApp-Endura's David de la Cruz. In the end, as expected, the race came down to a mass sprint, with Matteo Pelucchi (IAM) managing to claim victory. Once again, Sam Bennett was able to demonstrate his talent. The Irish rider was the best-finishing member of the NetApp – Endura squad, taking an excellent fourth place.

"In the final part of the race, we were focusing on Sam, and Zak [Dempster] was able to bring him into a very good starting position. Unfortunately, just before the finish line, Sam was forced into the barrier again by a rider, which caused him to slow down, and then he had to start back up again. Claiming fourth place in spite of that is a great achievement. On the other hand, he could've come out with an even better finish," says sports director Enrico Poitschke after the race.

The five-man group of the day formed directly after the start in the Tuscan seaside resort of San Vincenzo. Among that group was NetApp – Endura's Spanish rider David de la Cruz. Just 10 kilometers into the race, the quintet's lead was more than four minutes, and they were able to widen the gap even further. The time difference became smaller only when the sprint teams forced the pace during the final part of the stage. Shortly before the last sprint classification of the day, at around kilometer 135, the group finally broke up, which meant that the outcome of the race was decided in a sprint royal.

"The goal today was also to be represented in the sprint group, which David de la Cruz was able to accomplish very well. He was supposed to try to claim the mountain classifications for himself. But unfortunately, because he's been a bit shaky after Oman, he wasn't able to summon up the necessary level of performance," explains Poitschke.

"We had a little bit of bad luck as well. Our riders Iker [Camano] and Tiago [Machado] were also involved in the crash just eight kilometers before the finish. Neither of them was wounded, but they lost some important time in terms of the general classification," Enrico Poitschke adds.

Today's third stage should also suit sprinters very well. The 210-kilometer stage begins in Cascina, where today's stage ended. After that, they will travel west toward Arezzo. Along the way, they will face two mountain and one sprint classification. It could come down to an early decision on the final four laps, because the course there has a short climb that could pose a challenge for the faster riders.

You can read our preview of stage 3 here.