Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 2: Pelucchi wins for IAM as big names miss out in sprint (+ Kittel bike throw video)

Matteo Pelucchi of IAM Cycling sprung a shock on Stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico, winning a scrappy sprint in Cascina from FDJ.fr'saud Demare, with Lotto Belisol's André Greipel third. Mark Cavendish of Omega Pharma-Quick Step couldn't find a way through the traffic and finished 17th, but keeps the overall lead. The other rider expected to challenge him and Greipel for the win, Marcel Kittel, crashed with 2.5km left.

Kittel, who last year became the first man to beat Cavendish in the Tour de France finale on the Champs-Elysées, showed his disgust by tossing his bike to the ground, shown in the following video.

Afterwards, Kittel (perhaps with a bit of nudging from the team's PR) tweeted "I'm VERY sorry for throwing my beloved Giant Propel on the ground. I still love it! We're just having an intense relationship. #deepemotions"

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Demare seemed to have the better of his rivals in the sprint, but the 25-year-old Pelucchi timed his sprint perfectly to come past the Frenchman and secure the Swiss UCI Professional Continental team's maiden victory in a WorldTour race.

Behind third-placed Greipel in fourth spot was NetApp-Endura's 23-year-old Irish rider, Sam Bennett.

Some 30km ahead of the frantic finale to the 166km stage from San Vicenzo, Movistar's Alex Dowsett had launched a lone attack from the break he had spent the day in, the British time trial champion seeking to put his talents in that discipline to pull off what would have been a spectacular solo win.

But passing under the 10km to go banner, his lead, which stood at around 2 minutes with 20km left, had been slashed to just 10 seconds and the Essex-born rider was swept up with some 7 kilometres left to ride.