Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) used his time trial skills and talents to win the stage 2 time of the Giro d'Italia around Tirana, as Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) produced the ride of the day to finish a close second and so snatch the maglia rosa from stage 1 winner Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).
Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) endured a bad day and so failed to get even close to Pedersen, as the Corsa Rosa produced another suprise.
21-year-old Tarling set a time of 16:07 for the 13.7km city centre course, at an average speed of 51.003km/h. He dived through the many corners with control, powered up the gradual climb to Sauk and then took a few risks and stayed aero on the fast descent to the finish line.
Roglič matched Tarling's time checks and fought a rising head wind in the final kilometre to finish just one second slower.
Australia's Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was third on the stage at three seconds, with US national time trial champion Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) eighth at 13 seconds.
Roglič beat Pedersen by 11 seconds in the time trial and so took the maglia rosa by a single second. He also gained time on all his GC rivals in an ominous sign for this year's race.
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) lost 16 seconds to the veteran Slovenian, Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Racing) lost 27 seconds and Canada's Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) 28 seconds.
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Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) shipped 25 seconds to Roglič, Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) lost a significantly more 42 seconds, while Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) lost 48 seconds. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) risked crashing on mid-course corner but fought on to lose 37 seconds to Roglič.
Pedersen started last in the maglia rosa, in a virtual pursuit match with Van Aert and Roglič for the new maglia rosa. Van Aert soon faded but Pedersen refused to give up hope of staying in pink. At the line Pedersen was timed at just 11 seconds down on Roglič but that was a second much and so he lost the maglia rosa.
Tarling made history as the youngest ever Giro time trial winner.
"I can't believe it, I'm so happy," Tarling said.
"The wait wasn't nice, I don't want to do it again. It was a long day for 13km. I was afraid of all the favourites, Wout, Mads and Primoz really scared me, it was a stressful day."
Tarling was happier with what he could control: his own performance.
"We did the first part smoothly and in control, with the climb nice and hard. The last section was harder than we thought in the recon ride, so I made sure to really hurt there."
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) takes over maglia rosa (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
Niklas Märkl of Team Picnic PostNL was the first rider down the start ramp in central Tirana, but Britain's Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep) was soon the fastest, with a time of 16:21 for the flat and fast 13.7km course.
European time trial champion Edoardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike) was perfectly suited to the course and powered home to set a new best time of 16:13. That put him in the hot seat, but the Italian was never confident he had set a fast enough time.
Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) crashes on stage 2 time trial (Image credit: Getty Images)
Soon after Luke Plapp (Jayco Alula) crashed at speed during his ride, as riders took risks on the city centre corners. The Australian national champion slipped out on a tight turn and slid along the road in his green and gold skinsuit. Plapp shook his right wrist after getting a new bike and starting to ride again. He rode carefully to the finish and set a time of 19:54.
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) crashed during stage 1 but did not hold back in the time trial. The Australian took risks on some fast corners and put down huge controlled power on the flat roads. He was fastest at the first intermediate with a five second advantage on Affini. He set a time of 16:10, ending three seconds faster than Affini.
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates XRG) set the early fast time (Image credit: Getty Images)
Tarling wore the iconic British time trial champion's jersey for his ride. He started fast and determined, staying low over his Pinarello time trial bike. He was immediately seven seconds faster than Vine at the first time check after just five kilometres. He continued to increase his lead with every pedal stroke on the flat road, lost a few seconds on the climb to Sauk and the official time check, but then flew back down to central Tirana. He gained precious seconds all the way to the line to set a time of 16:07, three seconds faster than Vine.
Ayuso started earlier than his GC rivals after finishing at the back of the lead group on stage 1. UAE teammate and US national time trial champion Brandon McNulty was off soon after him, with Adam Yates off one behind the American.
Ayuso lost his aero bidon after hitting a bump in the road and also lost five seconds to Tarling in the opening five kilometres. The Spaniard managed to pull back two seconds on the gradual climb to Sauk but was timed three seconds slower. McNulty was timed two seconds slower than Vine at the check but was one second faster than Tarling. They were all close, and the battle for the stage victory was entwined with the GC battle for every second.
Ayuso did not take huge risks on the descent to the finish but also had to ride into a growing headwind. They cost him vital seconds and he stopped the clock in 16:24 That was 17 seconds slower than Tarling, most of it lost in the final five kilometres.
McNulty also lost time into the headwind. He set a time of 16:20, a significant 13 seconds slower than Tarling. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) went closer despite the wind but was six seconds slower than Tarling.
Roglič managed to limit his losses in the opening kilometres and then powered up the gradual climb to Sauk, suddenly showing he was a contender for the stage victory and the maglia rosa. He matched the same 10:08 time at the summit and then raced down the descent in his aero tuck.
The virtual time check showed Roglič on the same time as Tarling, and he raced to the finish line as the seconds ticked down. He was less than 30 metres from the line when the clock turned red to indicate that Tarling was faster by a single second. Roglič's reward would come a little later.
Meanwhile, everyone else riding after Roglič, faced a battle to limit their time losses. Tiberi, Ciccone, and Carapaz were suddenly on the back foot after losing a chunk of time. Carapaz perhaps considered him lucky after saving a double bike flip on the same corner where Plapp crashed.
In the final moments of the time trial, Pedersen raced Van Aert, and both knew they were racing Roglič for the maglia rosa.
Van Aert soon realised his moment was done after losing 28 seconds to Tarling at the time split. He finished 39 seconds slower than Tarling.
Pedersen took some risks on the early flat roads, knowing he needed to gain time for the climb and headwind finish. He was clocked at 10 seconds slower than Roglič at the Saul time split after eight kilometres of the 13.7km course.
Overnight leader Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) gave it all but lost the maglia rosa by one second (Image credit: Getty Images)
It was close race to the line. Pedersen tried to sprint to the line just as he did so successfully on Friday. However, this time, Roglič was faster by just two seconds and so pulled on the maglia rosa, two years after winning in Rome at the 2023 Giro.
On Sunday he will surely be happy to let it go to a breakaway, or even to Pedersen, who could take it back thanks to the bonus seconds awarded at the finish if he can fight for the stage victory.
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
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