A quiet day ended with a mad dash to the line, which saw the Colombian book a place in the top 10.
Fernando Gaviria finished fourth on stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia, which traveled from Olbia to Tortoli (221 kilometers). The route was an up-and-down affair, taking the riders over an undulating course, which included also the race's first second-category climb, Genna Silana. After crossing the top of that ascent, the last riders left at the front from the day's original five-man breakaway got caught, and a new race started.
Davide Martinelli, one of Quick-Step Floors' three Grand Tour rookies, surged clear together with Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) and the duo put 20 seconds between them and the chasers, but the peloton, who was still fairly large despite the 25km-long climb which they tackled earlier on the day, reabsorbed the attackers with 35 kilometers left.
It soon became obvious for everyone the stage will end up in a bunch sprint, and Fernando Gaviria – who was safely piloted in the final kilometer by his Quick-Step Floors teammates – came around Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott), who faced a mechanical, on the right side of the road and opened his sprint with 200 meters to go.
The young Colombian, who took at least one win in all the stage races he's done so far this season (Vuelta a San Juan, Volta ao Algarve and Tirreno-Adriatico), came very close to his first top 3 finish in a Grand Tour stage, as he rolled over the line in fourth place, same time as winner Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal), a result which helped Fernando make his way into the top 10 overall with one stage to go before the first rest day, which will see the caravan travel to Sicily.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
