Mathieu van der Poel edged to victory on stage two of Tirreno-Adriatico in San Gimignano after powering away on wet gravel roads.
The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider escaped with Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) in the closing kilometres, and sprinted to the win in the medieval Tuscan town.
"It was very difficult," Van der Poel said after the race. "The level was incredibly high on the last climb. The rain in the last half hour made it quite tricky, especially. But the team did a fantastic job.
"Julian Alaphilippe went first," he explained. "I wanted to take the lead because I knew there were some tricky corners. Plus, I wanted to make the race as fast as possible."
The sectors of white gravel roads, turned brown by the rain, dictated the late action in Italy, as both Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) crashed after slipping out.
Van der Poel himself had to unclip to steady himself, using his cyclo-cross skills to stay on the bike.
"The road was quite slippery, so it was very tricky to sprint while standing," Van der Poel said. "I had just saved enough energy to win."
The key move came with just under 6km to go, as Van der Poel powered off the front, followed by Jorgenson, Del Toro and Pellizzari. The latter launched his sprint into the town, before Van der Poel came round him, while Del Toro's charge came too late to challenge for thew win, but he came second.
Behind, the gravel took out other riders, including Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), who had previously been second overall on general classification.
As a result of his escape, Del Toro now leads the seven-stage race, with Pellizzari three seconds behind.
"Last year I came close [to winning a stage] a few times, but didn't pull it off, so I'm happy to win a stage again in Tirreno," Van der Poel said.
Results
Tirreno-Adriatico, Stage 2: Camaiore > San Gimignano, 206km
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned), Alpecin-Premier Tech, in 4:53:23
2. Isaac del Toro (Mex), UAE Team Emirates - XRG, at same time
3. Giulio Pelizzari (Ita), Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, a.s.t
4. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor), Uno-X Mobility, +15s
5. Andrea Vendrame (Ita), Jayco AlUla, +17
6. Alessandro Pinarello (Ita), NSN Cycling, a.s.t
7. Giulio Ciccone (Ita), Lidl-Trek, a.s.t
8. Andreas Kron (Den), Uno-X Mobility, a.s.t
9. Clement Champoussin, (Fra) XDS Astana, a.s.t
10. Paul Lapeira, (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, a.s.t
General Classification after stage 2
1. Isaac del Toro (Mex), UAE Team Emirates - XRG in 5:06:01
2. Giulio Pelizzari (Ita), Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3s
3. Magnus Sheffield (USA), Ineos Grenadiers, +13
4. Alan Hatherly (RSA), Jayco AlUla, +17
5. Primož Roglič (Slo), Jayco AlUla, +17
6. Antonio Tiberi (Ita), Bahrain-Victorious, +20
7. Matteo Jorgenson (USA), Visma-Lease a Bike, +31
8. Filippo Ganna (Ita), Ineos Grenadiers, +34
9. Javier Romo (Esp), Movistar, +34
10. Ben Healy (Ire), EF Education-EasyPost, +36
