"You have to earn it to be able to sprint" - Mark Cavendish aknowledges challenge for Tirreno-Adriatico sprints

Today is the first sprint stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. The Italian race was added to the Manxman's schedule as it features three potential sprints, but Mark Cavendish admits it will be quite a challenge.

Today's stage is not overly tough, although it features a small hilltop just inside the final 10 kilometers. “But in Italy you always have to earn it. There are some climbs in the final. That makes it a good ride. You have to earn it to be able to sprint. I like days like that," he tells reporters ahead of stage 2.

More than the profile, what will matter the most is the competition. Over a dozen sprinters can realistically battle for victory today in Follonica, between them the likes of Fabio Jakobsen, Dylan Groenewegen and Jasper Philipsen. On what is expected to be a very fast finale, the Astana Qazaqstan Team leader will need to be on his toes just to be able to contest for the first positions.

“We have very good riders in the team. We have Yevgeniy Fedorov, the U23 world champion. We have Gleb Syritsa. He's strong, he did a good time trial yesterday and already has some top ten finishes this year," he details. Not having Cees Bol and Martin Laas present, Cavendish will mostly have to rely on his intuition in the final meters. Luts (Alexey Lutsenko, ed.) always rides a good classification in the Tirreno, so we are looking forward to a good week.”