00:00There is huge anticipation surrounding stage 2 of a Giro already bursting into life.
00:06This morning, the race caravan woke up in the beautiful city of Burgas,
00:10where yesterday 22-year-old Frenchman Paul Manier of Sudau-Quickstep
00:14stormed at the first Mali Arros of the race with a sprint
00:17that combined raw power and perfect tactical timing.
00:22Only 4th place for Italy's Jonathan Milan, boxed out in a chaotic finale,
00:27also marked by a crash inside the final 600 meters.
00:32Yeah, I think I had a pretty short night of sleep,
00:35so maybe the battery will be a bit empty,
00:38but I think the motivation will take over,
00:40and yeah, we are all super motivated,
00:42so we will see how it goes in the final game.
00:45But there is no time to celebrate or to dwell on what went wrong.
00:50Today's stage is tough, unpredictable, and potentially decisive
00:54already for the general classification contenders.
00:58From the Venice of Bulgaria, the peloton heads inland,
01:02and after 220 kilometers, the riders will arrive in Veliko Tarnovo,
01:06perched above the rocky banks of the Yantra River,
01:09one of the tributaries of the Danube.
01:11This is far from a transition stage.
01:13It's very different to yesterday.
01:15Yesterday was a bunch sprint,
01:17and yeah, today is a hard climb in the end,
01:20and it will be interesting to see what other guys have of plans,
01:24and yeah, how hard the climb actually is,
01:28and how many guys can survive it.
01:29A fiery finale where the pure sprinters will be pushed to their limits
01:33by riders with explosive acceleration.
01:35And so, it would be no surprise to see that Maglia Rosa already changed shoulders.
01:40Much like two years ago when Tadej Pogacar,
01:42despite suffering a puncture and a crash before the final climb,
01:46attacked with four and a half kilometers remaining in stage two,
01:49won solo,
01:50and claimed his first Maglia Rosa.
01:52What a victory from Pogacar,
01:54and he will be in the Maglia Rosa tomorrow.
01:57Will Ray's favorite Jonas Vingogård try something similar today?
02:01The Danes' main rival, Italy's Giulio Bellizzari,
02:04has the perfect characteristics for this kind of explosive finish,
02:07and both riders could step into the spotlight
02:10after riding cautiously on the opening stage.
02:22Cloudy skies greet the riders at the start,
02:25with occasional breaks in the clouds
02:26and temperatures sitting just above 17 degrees.
02:30Rain is also possibility later in the stage,
02:33especially near the finish.
02:36There is bad news before the start from Matteo Moschetti,
02:39who is forced to abandon the race
02:41after suffering a concussion in yesterday's crash.
02:49As soon as the flag drops,
02:51two riders from Palti visit Malta,
02:53launch the day's breakaway.
02:54Mirko Maestri and the current Azzurra jersey holder,
02:57Diego Pablo Sevilla,
02:59already acted yesterday in an early escape alongside Tarozzi.
03:05The peloton allows them some freedom
03:07and the gap quickly begins to grow.
03:09The strategy from Palti visit Malta is clear.
03:13By placing two riders in the breakaway,
03:15the team aims to help Pablo Diego Sevilla
03:17collect more mountain points
03:19and defend his lead in the King of the Mountains classification,
03:22with the ambition of bringing the Azzurra jersey into Italy.
03:26Was also the best climber this year's Tirreno Adriatico,
03:30but he is still chasing the first major victory
03:32of his professional career.
03:36At 35 years old, Mirko Maestri is the veteran of the team
03:40and a rider well accustomed to long breakaways far from the finish.
03:44The stage settles into familiar rhythm.
03:46The peloton remains firmly in control,
03:49careful not to let the advantage grow too large.
03:51And amid the action,
03:53there is also time to highlight Jonas Wingergaard's support for a charity initiative
03:57dedicated to protecting children,
03:59wearing a painted red fingernail as a symbol against child abuse.
04:09With 140 kilometers still to go,
04:11after already spending 80 kilometers out front,
04:14the advantage of Diego Pablo Sevilla and Mirko Maestri begins to fall,
04:18stabilizing at around 5 minutes.
04:21Even so, the peloton remains a long way behind.
04:30There is no battle for the line.
04:32Sevilla rolls through first, ahead of Maestri.
04:37Behind them, the sprint trains begin to organize for third place.
04:41Maglia Rosa, Paul Magnier takes it comfortably without any real challenge.
04:45Meanwhile, these KPs begin the first true climb of this Giro towards the Bila Pass.
04:49Fatigue is starting to build, and the feared rain has finally arrived.
04:55Sevilla and Maestri, as it was before, the intermediate sprint on top of the Biala Pass.
05:00The peloton raises the tempo and immediately takes back one minute on the leaders,
05:05who now focus entirely on reaching the first king of the mountain sprint.
05:09They get there safely, and unsurprisingly, Diego Sevilla collects another nine points,
05:14strengthening his grip on the climber's classification.
05:17Behind, the bunch continues to accelerate,
05:20bringing the gap to the two Palti visit Malta riders below three minutes.
05:24Their objective is now simple.
05:26Survive until the second king of the mountain sprint.
05:29After that, resisting the peloton's chase will become almost impossible.
05:34The leading does a two-kilometer to the Vratnik Pass mountain sprint.
05:40Mirko Maestri continues his impressive work on the front,
05:43helping his teammate on the climb towards the Vratnik Pass.
05:46At 920 meters above sea level, the highest point reached so far in this Giro.
05:52The two riders achieve their goal, and once again,
05:54Pablo Diego Sevilla takes the maximum points,
05:57adding another nine to defend his Atsura jersey.
06:01Behind them, the pace in the peloton keeps rising.
06:03Teams fight for position at the front before cresting the summit and tackling the wet descent ahead.
06:09The gap to the breakaway is now down to around two minutes.
06:13After the descent, contrary to what many expected,
06:16Diego Pablo Sevilla and Mirko Maestri keep pushing on at the front.
06:20They continue their effort through increasingly heavy rain,
06:23but their breakaway finally comes to an end with 27 kilometers remaining.
06:27The peloton completes the chase, and the race enters its decisive phase,
06:32unfortunately marked by a massive crash caused by the soaked roads.
06:37Attention, crash, caduta, caduta massiva, caduta.
06:50Big pile up on the left-hand side of the roads.
06:53Pignip Postanel heavily involved, a rider from EF there picking himself up.
06:57Yellow jerseys there from Visma.
06:59The peloton splits apart and immediately slows down.
07:04So many riders are involved that ambulances need to make their way through the race convoy,
07:09forcing the stage to be temporarily neutralized before racing resumes shortly afterward.
07:19The first objective after the restart is the Red Bull Kilometer,
07:24where Egan Bernal takes six bonus seconds.
07:26Egan Bernal with two teammates in second and third.
07:29Then the race heads towards the decisive climb to the Ljaskovets Monastery.
07:34David Pinganzoli, working for Jonas Wingegaard,
07:37sets a brutal pace on the front, with his leader glued to the wheel.
07:48Wingegaard attacks twice on the climb and reaches the summit first at the King of the Mountain's banner,
07:53ahead of Giulio Bellizzari and Lennart van Hetveld.
07:57The three riders continue their move and plunge into the descent on still damp roads.
08:02Bellizzari fully commits alongside an aggressive Wingegaard and Van Hetveld,
08:06as they try to hold off the chasing group and fight for the stage.
08:10And potentially the Maglia Rosa.
08:12Everything is possible there, come on, also Davide.
08:17We've got Christian Scadoni.
08:19He's not the only XTS Astana rider in the fold here.
08:23Giulio Bellizzari, Egan Bernal in the mix.
08:26XTS Astana have it though, 100 meters to go.
08:29It's XTS Astana though, with Giulio Ciccone coming with a charge.
08:34Oh, that's going to be tight.
08:36XTS Astana.
08:43In a dramatic sprint finish and thanks to a perfectly timed bike throw,
08:48Uruguay's Tomas Silva edges out Florian Stork and Giulio Ciccone
08:52with Christian Scadoni finishing fourth.
08:54The XTS Astana rider becomes the first Uruguayan ever to win a stage of the Giro d'Italia
09:00and the first to wear the Maglia Rosa.
09:03And well, the truth is that you are here in my first Giro d'Italia.
09:05I can give him a victory and the Maglia Rosa is something very special for me.
09:09Former race leader Paul Manier crosses the line two minutes and nine seconds down.
09:15In the general classification, Silva now leads with Stork and Bernal sitting four seconds behind,
09:21followed closely by the rest of the contenders.
09:23Tomorrow brings another opportunity for the sprinters.
09:27A 175-kilometer stage from Plovdiv to Sofia,
09:31the nation's capital will close out the Bulgarian Grande Pardenza of this Giro.
09:35A stage divided into two distinct sections,
09:38a gently rising first half,
09:40a second category climb with 70 kilometers remaining,
09:44and then a long gradual descent leading to the final eight flat kilometers.
09:49And then the race returns to Italy,
09:51where another chapter of this story is ready to begin.
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