Cyclingflash
Giro 2026: Guillermo Silva sprints to win and pink in thrilling stage two, massive crash mars finale again

Giro 2026: Guillermo Silva sprints to win and pink in thrilling stage two, massive crash mars finale again

Guillermo Silva secured a stage win in the 2026 Giro d'Italia for his team XDS Astana. The Uruguayan was surprisingly the fastest after a strong leadout from his teammate Christian Scaroni. In the finale, an elite group including Jonas Vingegaard, Lennert Van Eetvelt, and Giulio Pellizzari seemed set to fight for the stage victory, but the chasing group returned after some tactical games. Just like in the first stage, the finale was marred by a massive crash.

A day after the Grande Partenza, the puncheurs appeared to be in control at the Giro d'Italia. With three third-category climbs—the Byala Pass (7.7 km at 4.6%), the Vratnik Pass (9.1 km at 4.1%), and the Lyaskovets Monastery Pass (3.9 km at 6.6%)—the stage seemed too tough for pure sprinters. This was especially due to the position of the final categorized climb, about ten kilometers from the finish. The last two kilometers were also tricky, partially running over unpaved roads.

All the ingredients for excitement were present. It was therefore no surprise that top favorite Jonas Vingegaard stressed the importance of good positioning in the finale before the stage. However, during the race, it became clear that the tension would only build in the closing phase of the 221-kilometer stage. The first part of the stage was unusually calm.

Boring opening phase
Immediately after the official start, Mirco Maestri and the wearer of the blue jersey, Diego Pablo Sevilla, launched an attack. There was no further enthusiasm for an early break in the peloton, allowing Polti-VisitMalta teammates to build a solid lead. When the gap grew to six minutes, it was Ryan Mullen of NSN Pro Cycling who began organizing the chase.

Corbin Strong’s teammate controlled the tempo in the peloton rather than the team of the pink jersey wearer Paul Magnier. More than control wasn’t necessary, as the gap remained around five and a half minutes during the first two hours. For riders like Kaden Groves and Dylan Groenewegen, the calm opening was a gift; these two sprinters could steadily regain their rhythm after their involvement in yesterday’s mass crash. Speaking of that crash, Matteo Moschetti did not start on Saturday.

Magnier makes good progress in intermediate sprint
It was no surprise that Sevilla collected full points at the first two climbs of the day, solidifying his hold on the blue jersey. What was interesting to watch was the intermediate sprint within the peloton.

In the competition for the Maglia Ciclamino, Magnier made a strong move. He outpaced Jonathan Milan in the town of Sliven, taking 5 points and strengthening his lead in the points classification, while Milan took 3 points. Arnaud De Lie wasn’t involved in the fight but soon struggled on the second climb of the day.

Weather shifts, breakaway caught
While NSN continued the chase in the peloton, the weather conditions changed. As everyone scrambled for rain jackets, the breakaway and Mullen pressed on stoically. The Irishman was still tasked with reducing the gap to the leading duo.

He did an excellent job, as approaching the final climb, the peloton reduced the deficit to less than a minute. When the battle for position in the peloton began, the last gap to the breakaway closed. With 27 kilometers to go, everyone was back together.

Neutralization after massive crash
In the run-up to the final climb, racing intensified, which caused a massive crash just under 25 kilometers from the finish. Wilco Kelderman, Derek Gee-West, and Adam Yates were among those involved, with several others taken away by ambulance. UAE Emirates XRG saw the most riders brought down.

The big crash caused a brief neutralization of the race to allow the affected riders to return. However, the organizers decided not to wait for all victims to rejoin the peloton. There was a sprint for bonus seconds coming up, so the racing had to continue...

Arensman and Bernal profit, Vingegaard attacks
In the sprint for bonus seconds, it was INEOS Grenadiers who were most alert. Egan Bernal took six seconds, while Thymen Arensman sprinted for four seconds.

There was no time to recover because the final climb had already started. Bart Lemmen raised the pace on behalf of Jonas Vingegaard. In fact, Visma | Lease a Bike prepared an attack for their leader. The Danish top favorite decided to accelerate less than a kilometer from the summit. Only Giulio Pellizzari and Lennert Van Eetvelt could follow.

The trio seemed to work well together toward the finish, but the first chasing group was not far behind. Although no clear control was evident there, the gap hovered around 20 seconds. Whether the winner was in front was still unclear.

Challenging final kilometers
Van Eetvelt skipped some turns leading into the final kilometers, but that did not stop Vingegaard and Pellizzari from riding steadily. They aimed to make gains in the general classification. In the chasing group, other GC contenders like Arensman, Bernal, and Enric Mas were already losing time.

Actually, they were falling behind. At the start of the final kilometer, Jan Christen bridged to the leading group and things at the front came to a halt. This brought everyone together, and it seemed that dozens of riders still had a chance to win the stage and the pink jersey.

Christian Scaroni appeared to launch an early sprint but was actually serving as an excellent lead-out. His teammate Guillermo Thomas Silva surprisingly finished it off and also took the pink jersey. Florian Stork and Giulio Ciccone sprinted to second and third places respectively. Arensman secured an impressive fourth place in the general classification.