We knew it would be an eventful day, but we never would have expected the race to unfold in this manner. Guillermo Thomas Silva (Team XDS Astana) won the second stage of the 109th Giro in a reduced sprint, becoming the first Uruguayan to make his mark in the pink race and to wear the symbol of leadership. Second place for Florian Stork (Team Tudor), third Giulio Ciccone (Lidl Trek). On the final climb of the day, however, we witnessed the first attack by Jonas Vingegaard who, together with Giulio Pellizzari and Lennert Van Eetvelt, had initially managed to make a difference. However, the race was heavily affected by a crash approximately 23 km from the finish that also involved some general classification contenders such as Derek Gee and Adam Yates. Plenty of Italian riders in today's top ten, in addition to Giulio Ciccone's third place we highlight Christian Sacroni fourth, Giulio Pellizzari fifth and Matteo Sobrero sixth.

THE RACE. After a first stage dedicated entirely to the sprinters, the three-day Bulgarian section offered a moving stage especially in the finale. Among the longest stages of the Giro, the 221 km from Burgas to Veliko Tarnovo featured three climbs: Byala Pass, Vratnik Pass and especially the Lyaskovets Monastery Pass located about ten kilometers from the finish. The opening stage saw the victory of Paul Magnier, but also a massive crash 600 meters from the finish that forced many riders to undergo medical checks. The athlete who suffered the greatest consequences was Matteo Moschetti who did not start from Burgas this morning.

Barely had the flag been waved for the official start when the breakaway of the day immediately formed. The protagonists of the attack were two riders from Team Polti Visit Malta, Mirco Maestri and Diego Pablo Sevilla already in the vanguard the previous day. No other team attempted to put riders in the breakaway and so the Basso and Contador team was able to pursue its objective of the day: to gain as many points as possible in the blue jersey classification, firmly on the shoulders of Sevilla himself. For about half the race the peloton showed itself completely uninterested in chasing, leaving only Ryan Mullen (NSN Cycling Team) to set the pace and so the breakaway riders managed to gain up to 4'30" of advantage.

As expected, the mountain points at Byala Pass and Vratnik Pass were won by Diego Pablo Sevilla who, points in hand, is already certain to be able to take the best climber's jersey until the return to Italy. In particular on the second climb we witnessed a powerful acceleration by the group put on by the teams of the general classification contenders to tackle the descent in the best possible position.

The race heated up when there were about thirty kilometers to the finish. Netcompany INEOS, Visma Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates XRG accelerated powerfully and at 27 km from the finish the group came back together. The real shock of the day, unfortunately in a negative sense, came when there were approximately 23 km remaining: Marc Soler slipped in the front positions creating a domino effect involving many riders. In the absence of ambulances, engaged in assisting the athletes, the race was neutralized for approximately 6 km. Many athletes were involved in the massive crash including several general classification contenders such as Santiago Buitrago, Derek Gee and Adam Yates, visibly bleeding from the face.

Once authorization was obtained from race direction, the stage restarted at high speed for the Red Bull Km, won by Egan Bernal who secured 6" of time bonus. On the much-anticipated Lyaskovets Monastery Pass climb Jonas Vingegaard, well-piloted by Davide Piganzoli, launched a double attack that literally shattered the group. Giulio Pellizzari and Lennert Van Eetvelt were the only ones able to get back on the wheel of the Danish rider.

The trio managed to accumulate up to about twenty seconds of advantage, but the group came back powerfully right in the final kilometer and the victory was thus decided by a reduced sprint. Christian Scaroni perfectly piloted his teammate Guillermo Thomas Silva who crafted a historic day for his country, becoming the first Uruguayan athlete to win a stage at the Giro and to wear the pink jersey. The now former leader Paul Magnier crossed the finish line with 2'09" of delay, but can console himself with the cyclamen jersey.

Derek Gee managed to limit the damage in the general classification, the Danish rider's group finished the stage 1'01" behind the winner. A much heavier loss instead for Adam Yates who crossed the finish line visibly in pain and lost 13'47".

Tomorrow the pink race will face the third and final day in Bulgaria, racing from Plovdiv to Sofia for a total of 175 km. The only difficulty on the course is Borovets Pass, a second category climb, with the summit approximately 70 km from the finish, but the 11% gradients could cause difficulties for some athletes.

to be updated

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STAGE RESULTS

1 Silva Thomas XDS Astana Team 180 05:39:25

2 Stork Florian Tudor Pro Cycling Team 130 + 00

3 Ciccone Giulio Lidl-Trek 95 + 00

4 Scaroni Christian XDS Astana Team 80 +

5 Pellizzari Giulio Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe 60 + 00

6 Sobrero Matteo Lidl-Trek 45 + 00

7 Leknessund Andreas Uno-X Mobility 40 + 00

8 Christen Jan UAE Team Emirates-XRG 35 + 00

9 Tjøtta Martin Uno-X Mobility 30 + 00

10 Rondel Mathys Tudor Pro Cycling Team 25 + 00

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 Silva Thomas XDS Astana Team 09:00:23

2 Stork Florian Tudor Pro Cycling Team + 04

3 Bernal Egan Netcompany INEOS Cycling Team + 04

4 Arensman Thymen Netcompany INEOS Cycling Team + 06

5 Ciccone Giulio Lidl-Trek + 06

6 Christen Jan UAE Team Emirates-XRG + 10

7 Kulset Johannes Uno-X Mobility + 10

8 Tjøtta Martin Uno-X Mobility + 10

9 Van Eetvelt Lennert Lotto-Intermarché + 10

10 Rafferty Darren EF Education-EasyPost + 10