Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 2: Renshaw Top 10 in Chaotic Bunch Sprint

Etixx - Quick-Step rider Mark Renshaw was the top finisher in a chaotic bunch arrival of 153km Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 2 on Thursday, placing 10th.

Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal) won the stage. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) was 2nd, and Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) was 3rd.

The race came back together with 15km to go in the race. Etixx - Quick-Step rider Zdenek Stybar remained near the front going into the last kilometer, while Renshaw was leading Mark Cavendish also near the front in anticipation of the sprint.

However, Cavendish suffered a mechanical.

"Everything was perfect," Cavendish said. "I was in good position to launch my sprint. But when I tried to go, my chain dropped off from the big chainring to the right, and the momentum from the sudden loss of torque caused me to move right. There's nothing I could have done to avoid it, and it's a miracle I didn't crash. I watched the sprint after the stage in the team bus. I feel sorry for Elia Viviani who went down behind me, and the other guys involved. Hopefully it's nothing serious."

"It was a technical issue," Sport & Development Manager Rolf Aldag said. "At the moment of launching his sprint the chain went off. That completely brings you off balance and makes that strange movement that you see from the images. Now we have to analyze what happened, how it happened, and make sure it does not happen again."

Etixx - Quick-Step looks next to 203km Stage 3, from Cascina to Arezzo.