Stage 2 - Tirreno-Adriatico

Stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico was a good day, especially with open Italian roads and the leader’s jersey in the squad. The stage had a very Italian feel with a break going immediately. The twisty, undulating roads mixed with poor surfaces and winds kept us on our toes, but the boys rolled at the front all day, which gave us a chance to sit up front and out of trouble. It’s a special time to see the leader’s jersey riding tempo in the peloton. Heppy was doing that today and putting aside his own ambitions for Adam’s chance at the stage and the GC hunt. Overall, it’s a telling vibe within this team. It definitely made me feel grateful to be part of this group.

The boys kept the break on a short leash and as we approached the final climb, Quickstep came up to finally close the gap for their man JA. The position fighting was nuts and was really hard to stay together as a team. It was one of the shorter days of the race, but we still put in 195 kilometers. With those solid five hours, I could feel the day in my legs as we battled for position into the last climb. Apparently, this climb is a Tirreno staple, so many of the guys knew what was coming, which makes positioning even harder. It was my first time on this climb, so I definitely was sparing a moment’s glance away from the wheels eye the GPX file on my Garmin as we approached the climb whenever I could glance away from the wheels on all sides of me.

The final climb was in steps and proved to be quite tactical. Our guys launched Adam through the first step with an impressive show of power. I was caught a little farther back but was happy to be there as a safety for Adam. This came in handy as a few gaps began to open up and I did my best to seal them up for him. In the end, I was hanging onto the reduced group of around 30 as we hit the line with Adam in fifth.

Tomorrow looks to be a long sprint day at 225 km but features an especially hilly and technical opening phase of the race. With only a few major sprinters here, it could be a more open race. We will keep taking it one day at a time with Adam now in the race lead.

Race Images: Getty Images