There was little doubt stage two in Tirreno-Adriatico would end in a sprint finish, but a jittery peloton raging at full-speed left mangled piles of bodies two times in the final 12 kilometers.

“It was a very nervous last 70 kilometers,” explained Bauke Mollema. “After the prologue, the GC was in reach for many riders and with the bonus seconds offered it made for a very stressful finish.”

Yaroslav Popovych and Jesse Sergent were caught up in the first melee with around 12kms to go, with Popo flying over his handlebars superman style and taking the brunt of the fall on his hip. Sergent came away unscathed, but the tough Ukrainian was in obvious pain as he crossed the finish line minutes after stage winner Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal).

“Another rider in front of me touched the wheel of another guy and caused the crash,”grimaced Popovych at the finish. “Although I had time to brake we were going over 50km/h and I had no where to go but over the guy on the ground. I landed hard on my hip. I made it to the finish but I cannot push with my leg, and now it feels even worse since I have stopped.”

A quick analysis by Trek Factory Racing team doctor revealed no obvious broken bones, but Popovych was shuffled off for further examination. (It was revealed later he sustained a contusion of the lower back; it will be a painful ride tomorrow, but he will be able to start.)

The latter of the two crashes happened in the final meters as the sprinters battled for supremacy.  With no pure sprinter in Tirreno (Jasper Stuyven was injured in Strade Bianche) Trek Factory Racing was not involved in the second fracas but it disrupted many other fastmen heading to the line at top speed.

When everything had settled the leader’s jersey remained on the shoulders of prologue victor Adriano Malori (Movistar) but Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) slotted ahead of Fabian Cancellara with his second place finish behind Debusschere.

Tomorrow’s stage three will end on a tricky 11-kilometer circuit navigated five times leading to a 5% uphill finish on a sector of pavé and could see a cunning move steal a win.