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Giro d'Italia - Jesolo - Trieste

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0km - Thanks for following our coverage of stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia, and join us tomorrow for more coverage of the race.
0km - Ben Swift was third for Katusha, but today was all about Alessandro Petacchi. A perfectly timed sprint.
0km - Petacchi takes it! Fabulous sprint from the Italian. Cavendish was simply out-powered!
0.2km - Petacchi moves through and Cavnedish is playing catch-up!
0.3km - Cavendish hits the front with 300 metres to go, Petacchi is on his tail!!!
0.8km - We're into the final kilometre and Columbia are still at the front. Cavendish is three riders back!
1km - Having said that, an attack has come from Fabian Cancellara! He has just been caught by Adam Hansen though as Columbia move through.
3km - Garmin now take over, and David Millar brings their train through. They have three men on the front. This is also no bad thing for Cavendish - it just stamps out the possibility of any suprise attacks.
4km - These three are going to be caught again. LPR have hit the front of the peloton.
4km - An attack from Philippe Gilbert! I said he might try something, and he is off! Enrico Gasparotto and Filippo Pozzato are on his tail!
5km - Eskov (Katusha) has gone clear of the peloton again in search of the KoM points, while the rear of the peloton have come to a standstill! A number of riders are off their bikes, though it goesn't look like anyone has fallen hard.
7km - Still rather messy and disorganised at the front of the pack at the moment. No team as yet able to stamp their authority on proceedings.
9km - Astana's Yaroslav Popovych and Lance Armstrong have moved tot he front of the peloton now. They are keen to keep the American out of trouble.
11km - They take the bell for the final lap! 11 kilometres remaining.
11km - CSC's Jens Voigt hits the front now, followed by one of the Garmin boys.
12km - Now Maarten Tjalingii tries to get away, but it's going to take something special to get clear of this fast-moving peloton.
14km - David Garcia da Pena is the Silence Lotto rider who has attacked, and indeed he has taken the KoM points on the Montobello.
15km - Finally some attacks have come, and the peloton has strung right out along the road as Garmin and Columbia look to chase them down.
18km - Cavendish has position himself about 15 riders back in the pack, staying out of all the argy-bargy out front, but ensuring he remains just behind the first few riders.
21km - Voeckler and Grivko have both been caught, and Garmin have moved to the front to set things up for Tyler Farrar.
22km - A fall! Milram's Matthias Russ has gone down, and he looks hurt. He's not straight back up on his feet in any case.
24km - I think Voeckler took the mountains points there, though it was very difficult to see. Now the two of them have continued their attack and are going to go all out for the finish.
25km - Thomas Voeckler and Andriy Grivko have both shot off in pursuit of the King of the Mountains points, and have overtaken Scarselli in doing so. It appears ISD are determined to get their hands on one of the jerseys today.
26km - Michael Barry of Columbia is driving the peloton along at the moment. They will soon swallow Scarselli.
28km - Scarselli knows his day in the sun is almost over. His lead has dropped below the two-minute mark.
30km - We have now started the three laps of Trieste, and the sprinters will all start edging their way closer to the front, making sure they stay out of danger.
36km - Leonardo Scarselli took the six bonus seconds at the first intermediate sprint. The American Tyler Farrar (Slipstream) shot out of the peloton and went through second to pick up 4 seoncds, followed closely by Mark Cavendish, who picked up two seconds.
37km - Belgian Frank De Cock, the Quick Step boss, confirmed today that he won't try to convince ASO, the organisers of the Tour de France, to allow Tom Boonen to ride this year's race. "Last year (after his first positive test for cocaine) we went to Paris to plead our case. This year we won't do it. We don't want to go through the same thing afain," he told Sporza.
40km - 4'20" is gap between Scarselli and the pack.
42km - Race radio tells us that Scarselli is currently rolling along at 42km/h, though the Columbia and Garmin teams have really upped the pace in the pack at the moment. 50km/h is there speed at the moment.
47km - We're more likely to see some action when Scarselli is caught. Perhaps that will be the trigger for one or two riders to launch new attacks.
50km - Hardly a thrilling stage so far today. The fact that we only have one man up the road effectively means that the peloton can reel him back quickly whenever they choose, so it would require a minor miracle for Scarselli to give himself genuine hope of making it to the finish still in front. Still, the sprint should be a fascinating one should all the big guns get over the Montebello unscathed.
55km - Columbia are still right at the front of the peloton, followed by a phalank of Liquigas riders, followed in turn by the blue and purple of the Lampre squad.
60km - It's a rather interesting kit that Scarselli, and indeed the rest of the ISD team, are wearing today. Garish would be the word that best describes it. Designed by Mario Cipollini, it's a mixture of black, luminous yellow and white.
65km - We have already mentioned Cavendish, Petacchi and Farrer as the three main contenders for today, though they are by no means the only riders capable of winning a sprint. Barloworld's Robbie Hunter and Quick Step's Allan Davis should not be discounted, while a punchy rider like Philippe Gilbert could well try something on the Montebello.
75km - 5'15" is the latest split. The peloton are begining to close the gap on our leader.
80km - The Giro is heading into the Dolomites far earlier than usual this year. The pretenders to the maglia rosa will have to show their cards from next Tuesday, where the stage finishes atop San Martino di Castrozza. There is then another mountain-top finish the following day at Alpe di Siusi on Wednesday.
85km - Di Luca exchanging a few words and a laugh with Petacchi toward the front of the peloton. This stage will be one of the few where Petacchi will have the chance to shine. Di Luca's Giro doesn't really start until Tuesday, when the first mountain stage takes place.
90km - The peloton have let the gap creep back up to 8'10". They know Scarselli will have little energy left in the inside the final 50 kilometres after this solo ride.
98km - Columbia remain at the front of the peloton. Their job today is both to protect Cavendish's pink jersey and to ensure he is within the first five riders with 700 metres to go.
100km - Absolutely glorious weather here in North-Eastern Italy. Blue skies and sunshine, and a very manageable 20 degrees.
105km - The Cervelo test team finished a respectable 11th in the TTT yesterday. Calrlos Sastre lost a little time on his rivals, though nothing big. "It was a very quick course," he said. "The wind played its part, but even so I think we can be happy with our result. It's the first time our team took part in a team time-trial at this level. We lost a minimal amount of time on the likes of Liquigas, Rabobank and Lampre, where the strongest riders are, in my opinion. I am happy."
108km - Tom Boonen has spoken to the press for the first time since his positive test for cocaine was announced by his Quick Step team. "The night before the drug test, I went out. I stayed for a while and I drank. At some stage I must have taken something. Then I had a blackout. I think I have a problem. After spending three to four months working, when I go out I probably over-step the mark and I become someone else. For 364 days a year, it's perfect. I try to be an exemplary citizen. But the day that I drink too much, something that I don't do often, I change. I will now seek help."
110km - Don't forget, even if you don't have Eurosport at home, you can still follow the Giro d'Italia on our player. Simply follow the link. Eurosport Player
115km - 7'15" is the latest split from Scarselli back to the peloton, which is predictably being headed by Columbia.
120km - Astana sporting director Alain Gallopin was pleased with Lance Armstrong's performance and attitude as he started his first grand tour since his comeback yesterday. "I saw Lance yesterday as enthusiastic as a junior," he said. The Texan himself was pleased with his team's efforts. "Those guys are specialists," he said, referring to Columbia and Garmin. "All in all, we have to be very pleased. I felt all right for an old man. I think we're pleased with that, considering the amount of preparation we put into it, which was minimal but as much as we could."
125km - Let's have a closer look at ISD's Leonardo Scarselli then. It's his eighth Giro d'Italia participation. He turned professional with Selle Italia in 2000, and at the age of 34, he is yet to record a major victory on the UCI circuit. His only victories to date came in the Tour of Senegal seven years ago.
130km - The Montebello is unlikely to see the sprinters distanced today. If Mark Cavendish made it over the Poggio at Milan-San Remo then he should have nothing to fear here. The Montebello is short - just 2.1 kilometres long - and not particularly steep at an average of 3.9%. The steepest part is 7%. Even if one or two of the big names should find themselves left behind, they will still have 5 kilometres between the last ascent of the Montebello and the finish to make back ground.
135km - After 20 kilometres of racing we have one rider out front - ISD's Leonardo Scarselli. He has been given a loose leish and is 6'30" ahead of the peloton.
13:10 - Cavendish himself was gracious in victory, paying tribute to the work put in by his team-mates on the 20 kilometre course around Venice. I may be the one wearing the pink jersey, but Im wearing it on behalf of the team. Today was a difficult team time-trial, but every rider gave 100%. Its an amazing victory for us. I hope to keep the jersey for the next couple of days. Itd be beautiful to win a stage wearing the pink jersey. Tomorrows stage should be good for us, and well try to win it.
13:00 - Columbia Team boss Rolf Aldag revealed that it was the plan for Cavendish to cross the line first. "It was our plan for Mark to cross the line first, although there was also a plan B. The problem was that we talked about it and everybody really deserved it. That's the thing. We finally decided that it would be Mark but we also said that he had to take care of it. We told Mark that he was the sprinter and he should know where to be to come over the line first; he couldn't be at the very front or back with a kilometre to go because that wouldn't work."
12:50 - Mark Cavendish will start the stage in the leader's pink jersey after his Columbia Team defeated Slipstream in yesterday's team time-trial, and he will also be favourite to win today's stage. Looking to challenge him is Italian legend Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes), while Garmin's Tyler Farrer is another one to look out for.
12:40 - The stage concludes with three laps around the town of Trieste on the Adriatic Coast. Each lap is 11-kilometres, and features a small climb - the Montebello. The second time the riders pass over the Montebello the first King of the Mountains points will be awarded.
12:30 - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text coverage of the second stage of the Giro d'Italia, a relatively flat 156-kilometre stretch from Jesolo to Trieste.