This time, no one could deprive him of it. In search of a stage victory and a pink jersey this weekend, Tadej Pogacar swept away his failure on Saturday by winning the 2nd stage of the Giro 2024 solo, at the top of the legendary climb towards the Sanctuary of Oropa. Going on the attack 4.5km from the finish, the Slovenian champion quickly isolated himself and was never seen again, to score the first victory of his career in the Tour of Italy. A success which also gives him the pink jersey of leader, Jhonatan Narvaez (INEOS Grenadiers) having logically exploded. New disappointment on the French side for Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), who is still losing time.
A disaster narrowly avoided: Pogacar falls in front of his car following a puncture
Pogacar, like Pantani
He dreamed of imitating Marco Pantani at Oropa but there is no doubt that Tadej Pogacar would have done without pushing the comparison to such a paroxysm. Like the Italian in 1999, the Slovenian suffered a scare at the foot of the final climb by puncturing, but above all by falling after trying to turn with a flat wheel. A big mistake ultimately without consequences for the double winner of the Tour de France (2020, 2021), who subsequently set the record straight at the end of a day without surprises.
Setting off quickly, the breakaway made up of five Italians including the cyclamen jersey wearer Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani-CSF-Faizané) never really had any hope of victory, despite Andrea Piccolo’s solo attempt ( EF Education-Easy post), resumed 6.5km from the finish. Like Saturday, the UAE-Emirates imposed a high tempo in the climb towards Oropa (1st cat, 11.8km at 6.2%) and after a final relay supported by Majka, Pogacar placed a sharp acceleration at 4.5km but linear which blew up all its opponents.
Pogacar: “There was a bit of confusion when I fell, but nothing serious”
Already 45” ahead for “Pogi”
The only rider to have really tried to follow the Slovenian, Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) quickly broke down and even put himself a little stupidly in the red, ending up completely exploding to concede 1’00” on a Pogacar not necessarily at the top but sufficiently imperial to leave his mark on this Giro for the first time. After two days of racing, he is already the winner, 108th rider to have won in the three Grand Tours, and pink jersey. As expected.
Smoothing their efforts more than O’Connor, Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) and Daniel Felipe Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) limited the damage relatively well, losing 27” on Pogacar, like the unexpected Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana), then that Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Einier Rubio (Movistar) concede 30”. On the other hand, big failure of Bahrain-Victorious – neither Antonio Tiberi nor Damiano Caruso managing to follow the best – and Romain Bardet, unable to follow like Saturday towards Turin. Overall, it’s starting to do a lot for the Frenchman, now pushed back more than three minutes from the new pink jersey, Tadej Pogacar. After two days of racing, the Slovenian already has a 45” lead over Thomas and Martinez, 54” over Uijtdebroecks and Rubio and 1’05” over Fortunato.
