Sixty years after Juan José Timón became the first Uruguayan to compete in Italian races such as Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-Torino, history was made on stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia.
Not only did compatriot Thomas Silva become the first rider from the South American nation to compete at the race, but he did it in style by taking the stage victory and claiming the maglia rosa in the process. All this in his debut at the Italian Grand Tour.
At the start in Burgas, his experienced XDS-Astana teammate Christian Scaroni, winner of a stage last year, said that “today will be a really good stage for us…. The last short climb will be really important to take the position in the front, then at the top we’ll see how it will be.”
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That is exactly what the team did. On a rainy and chaotic day, the team stayed safe in the peloton, avoiding the massive crash and positioned themselves at the front of the chase to bring back a late four-rider break. Then, on the final dash to the line, Scaroni did one final pull to catch the escapees and lead out his teammate to victory.
After three years with Spanish ProTeam Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, where he claimed two top-10 finishes at the 2025 Vuelta a España in his Grand Tour debut, Silva made the step up to the WorldTour this year. He then sharpened his form with an overall victory and two stage wins at the Tour of Hainan in April before taking the biggest result of his career on Saturday.
Speaking seconds after the finish, the 24-year-old said, “I'm delighted. This is only the second stage of my first Giro d'Italia, and I'm the winner. It was a bit unexpected. I'm speechless. I knew I came with a good shape, but I also knew that it's very hard to win a stage of a Grand Tour. ”
“It was a hard final, but I've ridden at the front thanks to Christian Scaroni, who was very active. I just had to keep calm and launch the sprint at the right time to conquer a huge win for myself. I have to say a big thanks to my team. For myself, this is the maximum I could hope for.”
Adding to his emotions is the fact that his family is travelling along with the race and watched him take the win.
Silva will wear the pink leader’s jersey on the 175km stage 3, from Plovdiv to Sofia, the final day of racing in Bulgaria. It is a stage that looks likely to conclude in a bunch sprint, similar to the opening day of racing won by Paul Magnier (Soudal QuickStep), who, along with the other fastmen, tumbled down the standings.
“We’ll see for how long I can retain the maglia rosa. Firstly, I want to enjoy the moment and fly to Italy with the jersey.”
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