Debusschere wins Tirreno-Adriatico stage two as Cavendish caught up in crash

Lotto Soudal’s Jens Debusschere took the win on stage two of Tirreno-Adriatico, but a huge crash in the final stages decimated the bunch sprint.

Team Sky’s Elia Viviani clipped Mark Cavendish’s back wheel as the fast men were gearing up for the final burst to the line.

The Manxman appeared to lose his momentum as his foot detached from his pedal, swerving into Viviani’s way sending the Italian crashing to the tarmac.

As the mayhem unfolded behind, with Sacha Modolo and Nikias Arndt among the other fallers, Debusschere outsprinted Peter Sagan and Bora-Argon 18’s Sam Bennett to take the win.

>>> Peter Sagan narrowly avoids crash in Tirreno-Adriatico TT (video)

Wildcards MTN-Qhubeka did much of the work in the final kilometres, with Edvald Boasson Hagen taking a huge turn on the front for his sprinter Tyler Farrar, who took fifth place.

Cannondale-Garmin’s Sagan moved up to second in the general classification above Trek’s Fabian Cancellara, as Adriano Malori retained his lead in the race.

Tirreno-Adriatico Stage Two
Result

1. Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal 3:30:18

2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo

3. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18

4. Alexander Porsev (Rus) Team Katusha

5. Tyler Farrar (USA) MTN - Qhubeka

6. Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica GreenEdge

7. Roger Kluge (Ger) IAM Cycling

8. Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani CSF

9. Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Bora-Argon 18

10. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Etixx - Quick-Step

General Classification

1. Adriano Malori (Ita) Movistar Team 3:36:22

2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo

3. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing at 1sec

4. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team at 2sec

5. Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling

6. Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo

7. Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team at 4sec

8. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team at 5sec

9. Stephen Cummings (GBr) MTN - Qhubeka at 6sec

10. Martijn Keizer (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo at 7sec