page_title: 2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11
section_title: Stage 2
hierarchical_section_title: 2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11 / Stage 2
caption_attribution_description: Giro d'Italia 2011, 2a tappa, Alba - Parma
context_page_description: The 2011 Giro d'Italia began on 7 May, and stage 11 occurred on 18 May. The 2011 edition commemorated the 150th anniversary of Italian unification. The majority of the race, and the entire first half, was situated entirely within Italy without visiting any other nations. The race commenced with a team time trial, an event where each member of a team starts together racing against the clock. The stage provided for the first two race leaders, members of the winning HTC–Highroad team.
  The race, and the entire cycling world, were turned upside down by the death of Leopard Trek rider Wouter Weylandt in stage 3. Weylandt had crashed from near the back of the race while descending a hill, and sustained such grievous injury that he was established to have died instantly upon falling to the road. The next day's stage was neutralized, as the peloton rode slowly and allowed Weylandt's teammates, as well as his good friend and training partner Tyler Farrar from the Garmin–Cervélo squad, to cross the line first with their arms around one another. All of them subsequently withdrew from the Giro.
context_section_description: 8 May 2011 – Alba to Parma, 244 km (152 mi)
  This stage was flat, and one of few stages intended to end in a mass sprint. It took place on National Bicycle Day in Italy, the second time such an occasion was observed. A very short fourth-category climb occurred 30 km (19 mi) from the finish line, to award the first green jersey. The arrival town of Parma hosted the Giro on eight other occasions, and was chosen for National Bicycle Day due to the vast quantities of bike trails it has.
  A singular rider formed the day's breakaway. Sebastian Lang of Omega Pharma–Lotto accelerated out of the peloton after just 3 km (1.9 mi). No one joined him, and the German stayed out front alone for the next 215 km (134 mi), having held an advantage at one point of over 20 minutes. He had still been in first position over the fourth-category climb, meaning he was awarded the green jersey on the podium after the stage. After he was caught, some 26 km (16 mi) from the finish, an eight-man counter-attack formed. Their advantage was never greater than 30 seconds, and when Eduard Vorganov crashed 10 km (6.2 mi) from the end of the stage, the others lost their rhythm and were caught soon after. Garmin–Cervélo rode on the front of the peloton in the final kilometers, trying to set up the finish for their sprinter Tyler Farrar. At the finish, however, Farrar's last leadout man Murilo Fischer was unable to match the accelerations of Mark Renshaw and Danilo Hondo, respective leadout men for Mark Cavendish and Alessandro Petacchi, and the American faded to seventh on the day. Petacchi opened the sprint first, to the right of Renshaw, leaving Cavendish to take the line to Renshaw's left. Just as Cavendish occupied a position with open road in front of him, Petacchi deviated from his line and rode directly in front of Cavendish for a few meters. When Cavendish tried to go around Petacchi, the Italian again changed his line to stay in front of Cavendish. After a moment, both sprinted with open road in front of them, and Petacchi came across the line first by a matter of millimeters. Cavendish was visibly upset, shouting and gesticulating at Petacchi after they crossed the finish line.
  Cavendish's 12-second time bonus for second place nonetheless made him the new overall race leader. Cavendish later explained that his frustration was not directed at Petacchi, but at race officials, since he felt he would be relegated if he had sprinted in a similar manner. However, he also said that he never had the intention of appealing the result. His sporting director Valerio Piva also took that stance, stating that Petacchi's sprint was "not really fair play." The next day, Cavendish made a point of apologizing to Petacchi via Twitter for his outburst after crossing the finish line.
caption: The peloton nearing the finish of stage 2 in Parma.
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