Trek Factory Racing had a calm day in the Tirreno-Adriatico where it was all about protecting GC riders Julian Arredondo and Robert Kiserlovski. The only small incident was a crash for Stijn Devolder who escaped the incident unhurt.

It was a stage touted for the sprinters, and despite a five-man breakaway that instigated the action for most of the race, it unfolded as predicted. It was young Italian Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) stealing today’s glory as he sprinted around Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr) and André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) for his first victory of the year.

The 166-kilometer first road stage of Tirreno-Adriatico began with five riders that broke clear in the opening two kilometers.  Yesterday's TTT victors Omega Pharma-Quick Step were content to grant the quintet leave, keeping an eye on the gap for most of the stage until assistance arrived from the sprinters’ teams.

Eventually the escapees were brought back with the exception of Alex Dowsett (Movistar), who attacked his breakaway compatriots and stubbornly resisted capture. Despite his gritty effort the peloton was all together with seven kilometers left, and the bunch sprint was on.

For the first flat road stage sport director Adriano Baffi was happy to see most of the team arrive together safely (Stijn Devolder was a victim of a crash), and all in the same time as they look ahead to the harder, hilly stages.

“Yesterday we had a good time-trial and we put our leaders for the climbs in good position. So today with this parcours our goal was to stay together and stay safe. We knew it was going to be a sprint so we did not even want to waste effort to get in a breakaway.  It was clear these tactics were the same between three or four teams. Tomorrow the finish is different; it is a bit tricky so we will analyze it as a team this evening. After tomorrow we will be ready to fight for the two climbing stages.”

Stijn Devolder was the victim of a crash that brought down a few riders with less than 15 kilometers remaining, and he talked us through the day, and his crash.

“It was a rather stressful day, especially at the end in the last two local laps. Everyone wants to bring their GC riders to the front, and the sprinters want to be there, too. The team did very well to keep [Julián] Arredondo and [Robert] Kiserlovski in front at the end.

“Then with around 13kms to go two riders in front of me crashed and I went over them. I was pretty lucky because I crashed on the side of the road in the grass so I escaped any big injury. I just have a few bruises and scrapes.  I lost some time in the classification because my bike needed some work before I could get going again, but for me it’s not important. The main thing is for Arredondo and Kiserlovski to be kept safely in front.”

You can read our preview of stage 3 here.