Team Sky rider Philip Deignan put in another strong display on stage two of the Giro del Trentino this afternoon. The Donegal man helped set up teammate Mikel Landa for stage victory while the latter also took the race lead from Vincenzo Nibali (Astana).
By Brian Canty
Ireland’s Philip Deignan is well-positioned going into tomorrow’s penultimate stage of the Giro del Trentino in Italy following another solid display today.
The Team Sky rider finished the brutally hard second stage just 28 seconds behind his teammate and new race leader Mikel Landa; a performance that sees Deignan 13th overall at 38 seconds.
He had started today, Wednesday, in the top 10 after yesterday’s team time trial opener but won’t lose too much sleep at dropping three places as he’s still very much in contention for a top result.
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And Landa is the man the others must now catch.
The Spaniard looked superb on the uphill finish that brought today’s stage to a conclusion, distancing the likes of overnight leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) with a brilliant acceleration.
He held on to claim victory by four seconds from Sergey Firsanov (Gazprom Rusvelo) with Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida) rounding out the podium placings at 13 seconds.
Landa also picked up a handy time bonus which sees him take a 10-second lead into tomorrow’s stage.
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But Danish rider Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) is lurking with intent after finishing fifth at 14 seconds today while the aforementioned Firsanov is still dangerous a further five seconds back.
Deignan was right up there on the two categorised climbs this afternoon, though the latter ramp to the finish in the Austrian town of Anras wasn’t hard enough to completely shred the peloton.
Team Sky did their nest to make it hard, mind, with David Lopez setting a strong tempo on the flat.
And Deignan, along with Gianni Moscon and Ian Boswell, did some sterling work on the final climb.
Boswell crossed the line 28 seconds back in the same group as the Irish rider.
Tomorrow is a day laced with danger for the race leaders and Deignan’s role will be to help to keep things together for as long as possible.
It’s another brute of a stage with 204 kilometres scheduled, as well as two category one climbs, the latter coming 25 kilometres before the finish.
Wed, April 20th: Stage 2, Arco-Anras (220km)
1 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Team Sky 5:18:12
2 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:00:04
3 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini 0:00:13
4 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:00:14
5 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
6 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF
7 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
8 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Argon 18
10 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Argon 18
18 Philip Deignan (IRL) team Sky @28secs
General Classification
1 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Team Sky 5:31:46
2 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:10
3 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:00:15
4 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:22
5 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:24
6 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Argon 18 0:00:26
8 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Argon 18
9 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:00:28
10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
13 Philip Deignan (IRL) team Sky @38secs
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