Second stage of this 107th edition of Tour of Italy. The first stage held yesterday, Saturday 4 May, saw Jonathan Narvaez winning the sprint at the expense of Maximilian Schachmann and, above all, Tadej Pogacar at the finish line in Turin. Today another Piedmontese stage: starting from San Francesco al Campo, arriving uphill at the Sanctuary of Oropa, for a total of 161 km.
Ready, go with five Italians on the run
At the start, Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group Bardiani CSF Faizané) took the lead, leading Christian Scaroni (Astana-Qazaqstan), Martin Marcellusi (VF Group Bardiani CSF Faizané), Davide Bais (Polti-Kometa) and Andrea Piccolo (EF Education- Easypost). The five leaders conduct operations at a good pace, and lead the race, bringing their advantage up to 4’37”, with almost 100 km remaining.
At the flying finish line from Valdengo, Fiorelli passes first, while in the group behind, Groves passes sixth. While the lead in front drops to 2’19”, Kooij (Visma), Dunbar, Zana (Jayco AlUla) and Conci (Alpecin-Deceuninck) fall in the middle of the group: 60 km to go.
Intergiro to Fiorelli, the lead dwindles
When there are 54 km to go, it’s time for theIntergiro: Filippo Fiorelli he also wins this pass, while the group’s lead drops to 1’46”. Behind, Caleb Ewan is ahead of everyone when the race heads towards Oropa. Andrea Piccolo takes matters into his own hands and tries the attack, gaining more than 30″ on his pursuers. Piccolo passes first at the Oasi Zegna GPM, with a 1’03” lead with 38 km to go, while the group behind drops to 2’26”, with INEOS in the lead. Nelvia’s GPM also bears the name of Andrea Piccolo, but the group has now dropped below two minutes.
The climb to Oropa and the champion’s solo
He remains alone Small (but great hero of the day) in front of the platoon which inexorably sucked in, one after the other, the fugitives of the first hour. A few punctures trouble the “Bigs”; Pozzovivo falls, Tiberi and Pogacar suffer punctures, which also ends up on the ground in the mechanical accident.
No serious consequences while Piccolo is in the group’s sights until -7, when he is definitively taken back. At this point, with the Oropa climb just around the corner, the teams’ strategies begin.
At 4.3 km from the finish line, the most awaited man is the one to break the deadlock: Tadej Pogacar he sprints and launches into the solo which earned him victory, the pink jersey and undisputed dominance over the race. O’Connor and Thomas try to keep up but without success, so much so that they prefer to defend their position also because the Slovenian flies and upon arrival accumulates another 27″ margin over Maritnez and Thomas which, combined with those of the first stage, already place him at 45” seconds from the first opponent.
As many expected, the Giro may have ended before it even got underway.
Stage ranking:
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) in 3h54’20”
- Daniel Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) at 27″
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) st
- Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana Qazaqstan Team) st
- Florian Lipowitz (Bora-Hansgrohe) st
- Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) at 30”
- Cian Uijtdebroeks (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) st
- Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) st
- Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek) at 35”
- Jan Hirt (Soudal Quick-Step) at 37”
General Ranking:
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) in 7h08’29”
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) at 45”
- Daniel Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) st
- Cian Uijtdebroeks (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) at 54”
-
Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) st
- Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana Qazaqstan Team) at 1’05”
- Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek) at 1’09”
- Jan Hirt (Soudal Quick-Step) at 1’11”
- Esteban Chaves (EF Education First- EasyPost) at 1’24”
- Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Difesa Team) at 1’24”
- Cyclamen jersey: Filippo Fiorelli
- Blue Jersey: Tadej Pogacar
- White shirt: Cian Uijtdebroeks
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