Pogačar takes victory and the leader’s pink jersey at end of second stage of Giro d’Italia

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This article was published 05/05/2024 (879 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BIELLA, Italy (AP) — It only took Tadej Pogačar until the second day of his Giro d’Italia debut to make a mark on the Italian grand tour.

And the Slovenian star did it despite a puncture and a tumble, 11 kilometers (seven miles) from the end of the tricky second stage on Sunday, on the approach to the final climb.

Pogačar swiftly made his way back to the peloton and then attacked on his own 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the end to secure victory on the top-category uphill finish to Santuario di Oropa and the leader’s pink jersey.

Pogačar raised his arms and screamed in delight as he crossed the line, finishing 27 seconds ahead of Daniel Martínez and Geraint Thomas at the end of the undulating 161-kilometer (100-mile) route from San Francesco al Campo, that featured three categorized climbs.

“I just wanted a stage win today and some gap, to test the legs a little bit. And, yeah, the dream was to take the pink jersey,” Pogačar said. “Now I can relax a little bit the next few days with the team and we’ll stay safe in the sprints.”

The UAE Emirates cyclist took over the maglia rosa from Jhonatan Narváez, who had surprisingly edged Pogačar at the end of the opening stage on Saturday.

Pogačar moved 45 seconds ahead of last year’s runner-up Thomas, who is likely to be his main challenger, and Martínez.

“Nothing new that, is it?” Thomas said. “We expected it. I was hoping to follow but I knew if I tried to keep going like that I would completely blow up.

“It’s OK for the second day … obviously Tadej is, well, he’s Tadej.”

Rarely has the Giro had such an overwhelming pre-race favorite as Pogačar, with the two-time Tour de France winner targeting a Giro-Tour double.

There was a heart-stopping moment when Pogačar’s front tire blew and he tumbled slowly to the ground. The incident had echoes of one of Marco Pantani’s famous exploits, 25 years ago almost to the day, when the Italian cycling great also had a mechanical problem at the foot of the climb to Oropa but recovered to solo to stage victory.

Pogačar didn’t seem fazed.

“Not really,” he said when asked afterward if he had been worried. “I was quite calm. I hit a hole in the city. I just had a super fast flat tire, I think I broke the wheel also … and then I also crashed but it was nothing serious.

“And I was feeling good. The team was super good today. So they bring me back to the front and then we set the pace that we like and it was perfect.”

This year’s Giro had an unusually tricky start — with most grand tours traditionally starting slow and steady — and Sunday saw the earliest mountain finish at the Giro since 1989 when the race began in Sicily and went up Mount Etna.

Monday’s third stage sees the sprinters get their first chance of the race along the mainly flat, 166-kilometer (103-mile) route from Novara to Fossano.

The Giro ends in Rome on May 26.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports