TADEJ POGACAR WON his first ever stage of the Giro d’Italia and took the overall leader’s pink jersey in Sunday’s summit finish at the Sanctuary of Oropa on stage two.
The Slovenian is bidding to become the first man to win the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France double since Marco Pantani in 1998, and attacked on a hill covered in tributes to the late Italian.Pre-race favourite Pogacar made the key move near the end of the second stage’s final punishing climb skipping clear with his trademark swagger.
The UAE rider bounced back from a crash just as the peloton approached the climb towards Oropa and turned on the afterburners with four kilometres remaining of the 161km stage.
Pogacar, a two-time Tour de France winner, claimed his eighth win in just 12 days of competitive racing this year and looks in ominous form.
He finished 27 seconds ahead of Daniel Martinez and another of his key rivals Geraint Thomas, stripping the pink jersey for the lead in the general classification from Saturday’s winner Jhonatan Narvaez.
💥 Crash in the peloton with @EddieDunbar, Filippo Zana and Olav Kooij involved. They're all back on the road#Giroditalia pic.twitter.com/RAjCE7cR7O
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 5, 2024
Cork’s Eddie Dunbar recovered to cross the line in 51st place, nearly six minutes behind Pogacar, after he was involved in a crash with just over 60 kilometres to race.
Dunbar was 15th in the general classification after a promising opening stage on Saturday, but drops to 36th after Sunday’s crash.
Monday’s third stage gives the riders something of a break with a mostly flat 166km between Novara and Fossano which looks set up for the sprinters.
