Giro d'Italia 2014 - Stage 2

The second stage of the Giro d'Italia 2014 was another race around Belfast, this time a bigger circuit race than the team time trial, it was a 219 kilometre stage around the Northern Irish capital. Grim weather greeted the peloton, it would no doubt be a long, cold day in the saddle. It was almost pan flat, and a sprint finish was widely predicted, with Marcel Kittel the hot favourite.

Nevertheless, a breakaway tried their hand, and after a flurry of attacks in the early stages Maarten Tjallingii of Belkin Pro Cycling was joined by Jeffry Johan Romero Corredor of Team Colombia, Sander Armee of Lotto-Belisol and Andrea Fedi of Neri-Sottoli. The team of race leader Svein Tuft, Orica-GreenEDGE, put on a steady pace as the breakaway contested the two king of the mountains climbs.

They were both fourth category, and Maarten Tjallingii took out both mountains sprint, and would therefore end the day on the podium in the blue King of the Mountains jersey. Tjallingii was also the last man caught within the last ten kilometres, after persistent chasing by the likes of Orica-GreenEDGE, and Giant-Shimano, the race favourite Marcel Kittel was obviously looking strong.

There was no one team which controlled the tricky run in, with most teams setting it up to get their sprinter to the front for the final corner with around 300 metres to go. Giant-Shimano and Orica-GreenEDGE were joined by the likes of Sky Procycling and FDJ.fr working for Ben Swift and Nacer Bouhanni respectively, who were both looking for their first grand tour stage win.

FDJ.fr delivered Bouhanni well to the final corner, and the Frenchman was the first to launch his sprint. It was strong, but there was no beating Marcel Kittel on stage two, the big German was easily the strongest rider in the bunch kick for the line. Michael Matthews, Svein Tuft's teammate, took over from the Canadian as the maglia rosa, courtesy of his eighth place finish on the stage.