After completing stage two at the Tour of California without issue Team Sky head into the first climbs of the race in a strong position.

For the second day in succession the team were able to conserve energy in the peloton and the entire squad, including team leader Sergio Henao, finished inside the peloton in Lodi after 193.7 kilometres.

With the first real climbs of the race set to arrive on Tuesday's third stage, a squad built for the ascents should come into its own.

Mark Cavendish (Etixx - Quick-Step) claimed back-to-back victories to extend his race lead to eight seconds, narrowly holding off Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Wouter Wippert (Drapac) in a near-blanket finish.

A sizable crash as the race hit the 3.6km finishing circuit caused momentary panic in the bunch but Team Sky were able to avoid the pile-up to all finish without issue.

Etixx - Quick-Step again set about pacing the peloton to help Cavendish defend the gold jersey, eventually shutting down the day's four-man breakaway at the bell with the help of Tinkoff-Saxo and MTN Qhubeka.

"We don't have a sprinter here so the most important thing during these first two days was to stay out of trouble and not lose time," Sports Director Servais Knaven confirmed after the stage.

"It was pretty windy today but nothing really happened out there except a crash with 10km to go. We were able to avoid that and it went well for us. The riders are all in good spirits.

"Tomorrow is the first day where we get a really hard stage and we'll see how good everyone is, from our side and for everyone else. It should give us a bit of an indication for the GC.

"It's certainly not going to be easy. It depends how hard they race it. For us it's important to keep as many guys there for the final and obviously try to win the stage. Then it's all eyes on the time trial on Friday and the big summit finish on Saturday. That's where the GC will really be decided."