20-year-old Davide Donati (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe Rookies) sprinted to victory on stage 2 of the Giro di Sardegna, outpacing fellow Italian Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal-QuickStep) to the line in Carbonia.<\/p>\n
The pair were at the head of a reduced peloton at the finish of the 136km stage. Donati dove into the final bend, 50 metres from the line, first to steal a march on his rivals and speed to a second career win.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Patrick Boje Frydkj\u00e6r (Lidl-Trek Future Racing) rounded out the podium, while stage 1 winner Nicol\u00f2 Garibbo (Team Ukyo) finished among the peloton to hold on to the race lead.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n “I got over the last climb well and knew that I was one of the fastest in the group,” Donati said after the stage.<\/p>\n “Because of a late attack, I opened my sprint early and gave it all. What’s important to me is that we rode really well as a team today, so we can be really satisfied. Now we want to continue in the same vein over the next few days.”<\/p>\n The stage featured 1,900 metres of elevation in the form of two third-category hills and the second-category climb of the Valico Montecani (6.5km at 5.7%) at 28km from the finish. However, despite the challenging parcours, a breakaway never went clear.<\/p>\n There were plenty of attempts, but with the front of the race run at a high pace, there was no chance for anyone to get away.<\/p>\n Instead, there was GC drama during the stage as Garibbo dropped out of the rear of the lead group. The 26-year-old did manage to get back in touch with the peloton in time for the decisive moments of the stage, however.<\/p>\n It was no surprise that the day’s toughest climb of the Valico Montecani provoked a move off the front. Stage 1 runner-up Filippo Zana (Soudal-QuickStep) went clear along with teammate Garofoli, Alessandro Verre (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort), Luca Paletti (Bardiani CSF-7 Saber), and Harry Hudson (Lidl-Trek Future Racing).<\/p>\n The quintet were brought back by Garibbo’s group before the 20km to go mark, while Darren van Bekkum (XDS-Astana) was quick to counter-attack off the front.<\/p>\n Van Bekkum made 30 seconds over the chase, but behind him, a larger peloton merged with the leaders, meaning his time in the lead was limited.<\/p>\n In the end, the Dutchman was caught with 5km to go, setting up a sprint finish for the win. It was Donati who stole a march on the rest and duly crossed the line first, adding a stage in Sardinia to his triumph last year on stage 3 of the Tour de Wallonie.<\/p>\n