Tour de Pologne
There was a sense of déjà vu as Ian Stannard again led home Team Sky in 18th place behind Marcel Kittel on stage two of the Tour de Pologne.
Skil-Shimano rider Kittel was making it two wins out of two as he sprinted to an emphatic victory at the end of the 162 kilometres route from Czestochowa to Dabrowa Górnicza.
Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervelo) had attempted to jump clear with around 300 metres to go but he was overhauled with ease by Kittel who had time to sit up and celebrate his 10th triumph of the season well before the line, with Haussler holding on for second and Graeme Brown (Rabobank) completing the podium in third.
Stannard meanwhile was among around 40 riders who avoided being held up by a high-speed pile up on the last of the four 5.6km finishing laps as the teams jostled for position.
He crossed the line in 18th, exactly the same position as 24 hours earlier.
All of Team Sky's eight-man squad were credited with the same time as the winner - as were all but two of the 172-strong field.
The stage had earlier run along predictable lines as a four-man break comprising Paolo Bailetti (De Rosa), Pierre Cazaux (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Adrian Kurek (Reprezentacja Polski) and Bartlomiej Matysiak (CCC) went clear early on and quickly opened up a lead of just under five minutes.
They were allowed to hoover up all the sprint and climbing points on offer but the peloton started to cut down their advantage in the final 50km, with the catch coming just before the penultimate lap of the finishing circuit.
Meanwhile Kittel's latest success extended his lead in the overall standings to seven seconds from Kurek, with a further seven seconds back to Haussler in third.
Stannard is highest-placed on the GC for Team Sky in 23rd, with he and his team-mates all 20 seconds off the pace in the early part of the race which sees the sprinters take centre stage.
It should be a similar story on Tuesday as the pack travels 135.7km from Bedzin to Katowice, ending with eight laps of a technical 11.2km course, before the GC contenders get their chance to come to the fore.
Kennaugh up for the challenge
The first question we asked Sports Director Sean Yates afterwards concerned the crash which marred the closing stages and he reported a clean bill of health for Team Sky's riders, saying: "Everyone is fine and none of our guys actually came down as such. Obviously it was also in the last 3km so no one lost any time.
"Pete [Kennaugh] got hit from behind but he's not injured in any way so all is good from that point of view."
As far as the stage was concerned Yates added: "We knew it was going to come down to a sprint and it will almost certainly be the case again tomorrow. For Skil-Shimano it's a big deal as they've won two stages and kept the [leader's] jersey in what's a WorldTour race; Kittel is sprinting very well and he won easily today."
Looking ahead to the more decisive stages which come later in the week, Yates is expecting a big showing from Kennaugh, explaining: "Pete stuck his hand up before the race, not only literally but also in the way he's been riding of late.
"Everyone has a free hand if they feel good but Pete can step up to that lead role this week. It's a good field here and we're looking forward to getting stuck in."
Post to your View!
Be the first to post a comment on this story