Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic at the start of the time trial stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia cycling race, in Tirana, Albania, Saturday, May 10, 2025. (Gian Mattia D’Alberto/LaPresse via AP)
Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic at the start of the time trial stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia cycling race, in Tirana, Albania, Saturday, May 10, 2025. (Gian Mattia D’Alberto/LaPresse via AP)
Britain’s Joshua Michael Tarling pedals during the time trial stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia cycling race, in Tirana, Albania, Saturday, May 10, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
Denmark’s Mads Pedersen competes during the second stage of the Giro d’Italia cycling race, an individual time trial from Tirana to Tirana, Albania, Saturday, May 10, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
Tarling wins Giro stage 2 by a second over new overall leader Roglic
TIRANA, Albania (AP) 鈥 British cyclist Joshua Tarling beat pre-race favorite Primoz Roglic by a solitary second in an individual time trial to win the second stage of the Giro d鈥橧talia on Saturday.
Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic at the start of the time trial stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia cycling race, in Tirana, Albania, Saturday, May 10, 2025. (Gian Mattia D’Alberto/LaPresse via AP)
TIRANA, Albania (AP) 鈥 British cyclist Joshua Tarling beat pre-race favorite Primoz Roglic by a solitary second in an individual time trial to win the second stage of the Giro d鈥橧talia on Saturday.
Roglic moved into the pink jersey, albeit only just.
Tarling, who rides for Ineos Grenadiers, finished the 14-kilometer (8.5-mile) route through the Albanian capital of Tirana in 16 minutes, seven seconds.
He faced a nervous wait to see if any of the following 58 riders could beat his time. Roglic went close but crossed the line just a second slower, to the obvious relief of Tarling, who shook his head and smiled wryly in the leader鈥檚 chair.
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鈥淚t鈥檚 not nice, I don鈥檛 want to do it again,鈥 Tarling said with a laugh when asked about the wait. 鈥淚t was a long day for 13k ... Primoz really scared me so, yeah, it was stressful there.鈥
It was a first Grand Tour stage victory for Tarling, who also became the youngest Giro time trial winner in history at 21.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe it to be honest. I鈥檝e been trying and I鈥檓 so happy,鈥 he added.
Jay Vine was third, three seconds slower than Tarling.
Roglic鈥檚 overall lead was slender. The Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe rider has an advantage of just a second over Mads Pedersen, who on Friday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a beautiful surprise,鈥 Roglic said. 鈥淚 mean, okay, you know that you are strong, but that doesn鈥檛 mean that you know how fast everyone else will go. At the end was really close today, one second off, so really, really happy about it.鈥
Mathias Vacek moved into third overall, five seconds behind Roglic.
The Giro remains for Sunday鈥檚 third stage. The hilly 160-kilometer (99-mile) leg starts and finishes in the coastal city of Vlore, which is directly across the Adriatic from the Italian region of Puglia, where the race will resume on Tuesday after a rest day.
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on June 1.
鈥淔or me, it doesn鈥檛 change the plan overall much,鈥 Roglic said about taking the pink jersey so early. “The plan is to have it on while arriving in Rome.
鈥淧edersen, for tomorrow is a good stage again for him. So we will see what will happen. Probably they will take it back.鈥
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