Stage two of the Giro d’Italia was the usual nervous start of Grand Tour road racing. The Cannondale-Garmin riders lined up for the 177km outing with a clear dual objective.

“The first objective was not to unnecessarily waste energy,” said Sport Director Charly Wegelius. “The second was to not lose any time for Ryder with crashes or gaps in the final.”

Misson accomplished. Hesjedal was one of 79 riders to finish on bunch time on stage two. André Cardoso, Tom-Jelte Slagter and Davide Formolo also finished with the main peloton.

A five rider escape group dominated the early action, stretching out their advantage beyond the eight-minute mark before the mid-point of the stage. The Cannondale-Garmin squad focused on energy-conservation as teams with an interest in the projected sprint finish or the defense of the pink leader’s jersey assumed responsibility for the chase.

“We were most concerned with losing energy unnecessarily during the first 50km,” explained Wegelius. “This is where we encountered the first climb and quite tricky roads.”

Vigilant against the crashes that seem a regular occurrence during the first week of a Grand Tour, Wegelius had instructed his riders to stay together near the front.

“We saw several gaps opening from crashes at the end,” Wegelius noted. “The priority was to keep the team together. They moved in a really good way. They were exactly where they needed to be. When there was a crash on the finishing circuit, they were able to work together to close the small gap that opened.”

Tom Danielson was involved in the most significant crash of the stage. He hit the ground on the first of two laps of the finishing circuit.

“As anyone watching could see, it was a big crash,” said Wegelius. “There were a lot of people on the floor. It took Tom a bit of time to climb up again. Initially it didn’t seem like he was too badly hurt but of course tonight he will be looked over by the doctors who will make a proper assessment.”

While Danielson gave chase, Hesjedal’s remaining teammates combined forces to close the small gaps that the crash had allowed to open. They delivered Hesjedal safely back to the front group. He would remain there until he hit the finish line.

“Ryder came to the finish with no time loss and a job well done,” said Wegelius. “It was a good day given the team’s objectives.”

“I consider today a fairly standard first road stage of a three week race,” Wegelius noted. “There were lots of nervous riders, lots of crashes and probably more stress than you would see if you ran the same race over the same course in two weeks time. The team managed it well.”