Uruguayan cyclist Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana Team) made history after winning the second stage of the 2016 Giro d’Italia in a spectacular finish. In the sprint, the Uruguayan surprised everyone, overtaking the leading trio to celebrate after a 221-kilometer route.
The second stage seemed designed for a duel between favorites and powerhouses, but it turned out to be a completely unpredictable day. Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) won in Veliko Tarnovo after a chaotic finish in which Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) appeared to be vying for the victory, until they were caught in the final kilometer by the chasing group.
The 24-year-old Uruguayan thus achieved the most important victory of his career and also delivered a huge triumph for XDS Astana on a day that had it all: rain, a massive crash, a race neutralization, favorites attacking from afar, and a completely chaotic finish.
The stage between Burgas and Veliko Tarnovo covered 221 kilometers and 2,600 meters of elevation gain, with a perfect finish for explosive riders and GC contenders. The key decisive point was the climb to the Lyaskovets Monastery, 3.9 kilometers at 6.8%, cresting just eight kilometers from the finish line before a technical sprint with wet cobblestones and ramps of up to 9%.
The day began relatively calmly with Diego Pablo Sevilla and Mirco Maestri, both from Polti-Visit Malta, forming the day’s breakaway. Sevilla also took the opportunity to consolidate his lead in the mountains classification after once again crossing the summits of Byala and Vratnik first.
The race truly exploded on the climb to Lyaskovets. Christian Scaroni set the pace for XDS Astana, and shortly after, Jonas Vingegaard surprised everyone by attacking eight kilometers from the finish on the second day of the Giro. Jan Christen initially managed to stay with the Dane, but eventually dropped back, while Giulio Pellizzari reacted to close the gap. Behind them, Paul Magnier quickly lost contact, and the Maglia Rosa was out of contention for the stage win.
A massive crash rocked the Giro again.
The stage had already been marked earlier by a huge pile-up with about 25 kilometers remaining, which once again sowed chaos in the peloton just a day after the massive crash on the opening day.
Several riders from UAE Team Emirates-XRG went down, including Adam Yates and Antonio Morgado. Derek Gee-West, Corbin Strong, and Edoardo Zambanini were also affected. Jay Vine had to abandon the race in an ambulance, while Andrea Vendrame was badly injured, and Rémi Cavagna showed clear signs of a broken collarbone.
The situation even forced a temporary neutralization of the race while ambulances attended to the fallen riders and medical cars attempted to reorganize the peloton.
After the neutralization and the final climb, Vingegaard managed to open up a gap along with Pellizzari and Lennert Van Eetvelt. The trio entered the final kilometers with a lead of around 15 seconds and seemed to be battling for the victory among themselves.
However, they began to watch each other too closely in the final stretch. Van Eetvelt tried to surprise under the one-kilometer banner, Christen still managed to rejoin from behind, and the lack of cooperation allowed the chasing group to catch up practically at the finish line. That’s when Guillermo Thomas Silva appeared. The Uruguayan launched his sprint from the back and ended up overtaking Florian Stork (Tudor) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) to claim a completely unexpected victory.
Regarding the Colombians in the race, Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) finished 14th and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) finished 25th, both with the same time as the winner, while Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain – Victorious) crashed and withdrew.
As for the general classification, 24-year-old Uruguayan Thomas Silva took the lead from Frenchman Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step), while Colombian Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos) gained a few bonus seconds and climbed to third place.
The Giro d’Italia continues this Sunday in Bulgaria with the third stage, a 175-kilometer route starting in Plovdiv and finishing in Sofia, which includes a second-category climb.
Giro d’Italia (2.UWT)
Results Stage 2 | Burgas – Veliko Tarnovo (221 km)
| 1 | Thomas Silva | XDS Astana Team | 5:39:25 |
| 2 | Florian Stork | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | m.t. |
| 3 | Giulio Ciccone | Lidl-Trek | m.t. |
| 4 | Christian Scaroni | XDS Astana Team | m.t. |
| 5 | Giulio Pellizzari | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | m.t. |
| 6 | Matteo Sobrero | Lidl-Trek | m.t. |
| 7 | Andreas Leknessund | Uno-X Mobility | m.t. |
| 8 | Jan Christen | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | m.t. |
| 9 | Martin Tjøtta | Uno-X Mobility | m.t. |
| 10 | Mathys Rondel | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | m.t. |
Ranking General Individual
| 1 | Thomas Silva | XDS Astana Team | 9:00:23 |
| 2 | Florian Stork | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 0:04 |
| 3 | Egan Bernal | Netcompany INEOS Cycling Team | 0:04 |
| 4 | Thymen Arensman | Netcompany INEOS Cycling Team | 0:06 |
| 5 | Giulio Ciccone | Lidl-Trek | 0:06 |
| 6 | Jan Christen | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 0:10 |
| 7 | Johannes Kulset | Uno-X Mobility | 0:10 |
| 8 | Martin Tjøtta | Uno-X Mobility | 0:10 |
| 9 | Lennert Van Eetvelt | Lotto-Intermarché | 0:10 |
| 10 | Darren Rafferty | EF Education-EasyPost | 0:10 |
Source: www.brujulabike.com y www.revistamundociclistico.com