Cycling: Tirreno-Adriatico: Kittel celebrates first victory of the season – Rippenbruch near Cavendish

Top sprinter Marcel Kittel (Arnstadt) celebrated his first victory of the season at the stage race Tirreno-Adriatico. The 29-year-old newcomer of the Katusha-Alpecin team won the completely flat second stage after 172 km from Camaiore to Follonica in a mass sprint with about one wheel length ahead of world champion Peter Sagan (Slovakia) of the German team Bora-hansgrohe and the Italian Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Sagefradeo).

Australian Patrick Bevin of Team BMC, who had won the team time trial on Wednesday at the start of the season, leads the overall standings at the same time ahead of his team-mates Damiano Caruso (Italy), Greg van Avermaet (Belgium) and Rohan Dennis (Australia).

The stage was overshadowed by a massive crash about seven kilometres before the finish, in which Marcus Burghardt (Zschopau), one of Sagan’s team mates, crashed. Former British World Champion Mark Cavendish had suffered a broken rib and other injuries in a fall the day before and had to finish the race on Thursday.

“It’s a smooth fracture and should heal well,”said Dr. Jarrad van Zuydam, doctor of the Data Dimension team.

Cavendish had already crashed in February on the opening leg of the Abu Dhabi Tour and suffered from a concussion and whiplash injury,”It’s frustrating to have fallen again,” said Cavendish:”Fortunately nothing worse has happened.