Alexander Areekev (Acqua e Sapone) won the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico on Thursday to take the overall lead of the weeklong stage race.

The 24-year-old Russian took the 202km leg from Civitavecchia to Marciano ahead of Italy's Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff Credit Systems). German Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner) was third.

Areekev now leads Contrini by 32 seconds with Krauss third, a further three seconds back.

Spanish rider Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d’Epargne), who crashed during the bunch sprint, was taken to hospital with chest injuries. Gutierrez will be under observation for 48 hours; the seriousness of his injury was not immediately clear..

Tirreno-Adriatico
Stage 2
1. Alexandre Areekev (Rus) Acqua e Sapone, 202km in 4:51:41
2. Daniele Contrini (I), Tinkoff Credit Systems, at 0:29
3. Sven Krauss (G), Gerolsteiner, same time
4. Fortunato Baliani (I), Ceramica Panaria-Navigare, at 0:31
5. Bernhard Eisel (A), T-Mobile, at 0:54
6. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole, s.t.
7. Danilo Napolitano (I), Lampre-Fondital, s.t.
8. David Kopp (G), Gerolsteiner, s.t.
9. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), CSC, s.t.
10. Loyd Mondory (F), Ag2r, s.t.

Overall
1. Alexander Areekev (Rus), Acqua e Sapone, 9:25:52
2. Daniele Contrini (I), Tinkooff Credit Systems, at 0:32
3. Sven Krauss (G), Gerolsteiner, at 0:35
4. Fortunato Baliani (ITA), Ceramica Panaria-Navigare, at 0:42
5. Robbie McEwen (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, at 0:57
6. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, at 1:01
7. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole, at 1:03
8. Benat Albizuri (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 1:04
9. Matteo Priamo (I), Ceramica Panaria-Navigare, at 1:05
10. Bernhard Eisel (A), T-Mobile, at 1:07