With no sprinter in the line-up, it was all about survival for Tinkoff-Saxo in yesterday's first road stage of the Giro d'Italia. The team did well to keep captains Rafal Majka and Nicolas Roche safe and is now hoping to equally well in today's final stage in Ireland.

It was a rainy 219 kilometer long second stage of Giro d’Italia with start and finish line in Belfast and as in any other stage of a Grand Tour, it was a nervous peloton setting forth in the wet conditions. However, four riders, Johan Romero Corredor (Colombia), Maarten Tjallingii (Belkin), Sander Armee Lotto Belisol and Andrea Fedi (Neri Sottoli), managed to sneak away from the peloton and stayed in the front of the race until the finale.
 
Meanwhile the GC contenders were in a constant battle for position in the front of the pack in order to minimize the risk of crashing out of the GC or even the race. In the front group, Tjallingi secured the blue mountain jersey by winning both intermediate sprints. But that wasn’t enough the Belkin rider who launched a bold attack going under the 7 kilometer banner and he went solo towards the finish line.
 
But the sprinter teams teamed up behind him and reeled him back in before the grand sprinter finale where Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) opened the sprint with 150 meters to go and took a convincing stage win on the treacherous and slippery surface.
 
For Tinkoff-Saxo, today’s stage was all about safety and the goal was to go through the stage without crashes.
 
“On a rainy and slightly hilly stage like this in the beginning of the Giro, it was definitely only a matter of completing the stage without crashes and without time loss for our GC riders," sports director Lars Michaelsen said. "We managed to get Roche and Majka safely through. Christopher (Juul-Jensen) crashed but he was on the bike shortly after and completed the stage without losing time. We have the same recipe for tomorrow’s stage where we are met with a technically challenging start of the course."