Pascal Ackermann takes stage two sprint – Giro d’Italia

Colombia’s Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Frenchman Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) completed a stellar top five as overnight race leader Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) came home safely in the main pack five seconds in arrears to retain the maglia rosa.

Ewan, looking for his first Grand Tour stage win for two years, appeared to be the best placed on the closing straight but Ackermann’s late surge was enough to see the ecstatic debutant home with his muscular arms aloft – very much in the vein of veteran compatriot Andre Greipel in his pomp.

Italian champion Viviani, who was on Gaviria’s back wheel, clocked his speed and swerved into Ackermann’s slipstream but only had enough gas in the legs to take second place in the nail-biting finish at Fucecchio.

“I’m just so happy,” Ackermann said after the race. “It was my first chance to win a Grand tour stage and we did it. I think that all the team is more motivated and it’s good for the next three weeks.”

Asked whether he felt extra pressure to perform after being selected ahead of Bora’s in-form Irish sprinter Sam Bennett, Ackermann said: “For sure it was a big pressure. But it’s my first Grand Tour and you never know what’s going to happen in your first Grand Tour. I’m happy to have won my first stage.”

Ackermann now leads Viviani by 25 points to 18 points in the nascent battle for the maglia ciclamino. Meanwhile, there were no changes in the overall standings with Slovenia’s Roglic, winner of Saturday’s opening time trial, holding a 19-second lead over Britain’s Simon Yates(Mitchelton-Scott), with Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) in third place four seconds back.

In torrential rain as the peloton edged out of Bologna, an eight-man move rode clear of the peloton shortly after the start.

Francois Bidard (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Marco Frapporti (Androni-Sidermec), Mirco Maestri (Bardiani-CSF), Lukasz Owsian (CCC Team), Sean Bennett (EF Education First), Damiano Cima (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Giulio Ciccone and William Clarke (Trek-Segafredo) built up a maximum lead of 4’30” as the weather eased and the race left Emilia-Romagna en route to Tuscany.

Italians Frapporti and Cima both won an intermediate sprint each ahead of the two categorised climbs which hung above the sprinters like the grey clouds overhead.

Having passed through Empoli, the break hit the first categorised climb of this year’s Giro with a gap of just over two minutes and with 52km left to ride.

As expected, it was the Italian Ciccone who set a fast tempo on the Cat.2 climb of Montalbano (5.8km at 6.8%) as the break split into two groups. Having set the quickest time on the steep climb in Saturday’s opening time trial, Ciccone ensured he’d keep the blue jersey for another day after zipping clear near the summit.

The Italian was joined by Bidard, Owsain and Frapporti on the descent, with the peloton riding 1’35” in arrears after swallowing up the remainder of the break.

Ciccone doubled up on the Cat.4 ascent to San Baronto to extend his tally to 21 points in the nascent battle for the maglia azzura. With Frapporti once again managing to fight back to the leaders shortly after the summit, the four-man break held a slender 50-second lead as the road dropped to the valley ahead of the final drive to Fucecchio.

Behind, the pack fragmented under pressure from Team Sunweb on the descent. But with the exceptions of Italians Giacomo Nizzolo (Dimension Data) and Manuel Belletti (Androni Giacattoli), who were both denied through untimely mechanicals, it all came back together for the expected bunch kick.

It was Ackermann’s Bora-Hansgrohe team who drove the tempo as the pack swept up the escapees with 7km remaining. But soon Viviani, Ewan, Gaviria and Demare all appeared near the front with their respective teams, setting the scene for an exciting finish.

A crash inside the final kilometre involving Demare’s team-mate Olivier Le Gac almost took down Ackermann and caused a little split in the peloton. Ewan then opened up the sprint late near the barriers before Ackermann showed his strength by zipping through in the centre of the road with Viviani in his wake.

Victory at the earliest possible moment for the 25-year-old Grand Tour debutant will justify Bora’s decision to select Ackermann over Ireland’s Bennett, himself a winner of three stages in last year’s Giro. On this form, who’d bet against Sunday’s winner making it a hat-trick himself.

Monday’s 220km stage 3 from Vinci to Orbetello plays out over some rolling roads and includes one categorised climb in the final third ahead of what should be a resumption between the battle of the fast men.