New overall leader

Top favorite Pogacar wins second Giro stage

Tadej Pogacar won the second stage of the Giro.(Bild: AP/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

As expected, top favorite Tadej Pogacar won the difficult second stage of the Giro d'Italia from San Francesco al Campo over 161 km to Santuario di Oropa in 3:54:20 hours on Sunday. The Slovenian from the UAE team took the lead on the final climb, also thanks to the help of his colleagues, including Felix Großschartner, and pulled away irresistibly over the last four kilometers. Pogacar now also wears the overall leader's pink jersey.

Pogacar suffered damage to his front tire while in the peloton around eleven kilometers before the finish in Biella and was unable to prevent a (harmless) crash. At this point, the Italian Andrea Piccolo was almost 45 seconds solo in front. Großschartner then paved the way for the top favorite from the back of the peloton to the front of the peloton. The UAE team, led by Norwegian Mikkel Bjerg, then set a good pace on the difficult final climb. As expected, long-term leader Piccolo (EF Education) was then caught 6.5 km before the finish.

27 seconds ahead of Martinez
After that, the race belonged to Pogacar, who continuously extended his lead over the chasers to the finish. He won by 27 seconds ahead of Daniel Felipe Martinez (COL/Bora) and Geraint Thomas (GBR/Ineos). The latter is second overall, 45 seconds behind.

It was the Slovenian's first stage win in his first Giro, meaning that he has now won stages in all three Grand Tours. "That was one of my dreams, the only thing missing was a Giro stage win. Not many riders have achieved that, it's a big thing in cycling, so I'm super happy." Pogacar praised his team for bringing him back to the front "perfectly" after the crash.

The leader after the first stage, Jhonatan Narvaez from Ecuador, who had surprisingly held his own against Pogacar on the first day, was unable to keep up. Dutch climbing veteran Robert Gesink (Visma) did not compete after his crash the day before due to a hand fracture.