Robert Gesink and Primoz Roglic stood their ground today in the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. They finished with the elite group in the hillside Tuscan down of Pormarance, where Geraint Thomas won. LottoNL-Jumbo’s Gesink sits 14^th overall and Roglic 15th.

"It as a quiet day and a hard final,” said Sports Director Addy Engels. With just 30 kilometres left, the escapees were caught and the final started.

“It was no surprise that it was full-gas from then on. On the penultimate climb, a group rode away and we were afraid that they would stay ahead. Luckily the peloton recovered and brought the group back." Thomas won with nine seconds ahead of the peloton with Gesink and Roglic.

"We did not have the men to chase. Gesink and Roglic were dropped off at the beginning of the final and then they sat isolated. From there, they had to do it on their own. They managed to get over the line in the peloton and lost no time,” said Engels.

"Despite the accident yesterday, Primoz showed that there is nothing wrong with his legs and Gesink is also in a good shape."

Jurgen Van den Broeck was one of the riders missing for the final.

In the descent towards the Volterra, Van den Broeck crashed. His wheel was caught on a ridge and he fell hard on the asphalt.

“He was scraped and he felt very dizzy. When he got back on the bike, he had to sit down quickly because of dizziness,” Engels added. “We decided in consultation with the race doctor to take him out of the race."