History repeated itself on Sunday. As Marco Pantani had done 25 years earlier, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) overcame a mechanical on the lower slopes of the Santuario di Oropa and rode solo to a stage win at the mountain's summit.
The Slovenian suffered a front wheel puncture with 11km to go on day two of the Giro d'Italia, and tumbled to the floor. He then quickly found his place back in the bunch and attacked with 4.5km to go, charging alone up double-figure gradients to nudge out his advantage and secure the pink jersey.
It took just two days for Pogačar to taste victory on his Giro debut. The 25-year-old now joins an exclusive club of riders who have won stages at all three Grand Tours.
"That was one of my dreams after I won a stage in the Tour [de France]," he said afterwards. "I was just missing the Giro, so that was always in my mind. To have all three stage wins is something that not many riders have, and it's a big thing in cycling. I'm super-happy."
At the foot of the final climb, though, Pogačar's victory prospects looked in doubt, when he crashed limply onto the tarmac.
"I was quite calm," he said when asked about the puncture. "I hit a hole in the city and just had a super-fast flat tyre. I think I broke the wheel, also. It was a little bit of confusion. I wanted to stop before the corner, not after the corner, but the DS in the car said, ‘After the corner. After the corner.’
"I also crashed, but it was nothing serious. I was feeling good, and the team was also super-good today. They clawed me back to the front, and we set the pace that we like, and it was perfect.”
"I just wanted a stage win today and some gap, to test the legs a little bit. The dream was to take the pink jersey. Now I can relax a little bit over the next stages with the team and stay safe in the sprints."
Pogačar now leads the Giro d'Italia with a 45-second lead over Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), who came third on stage two. The day's runner-up, Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe), sits in third overall, on the same time as Thomas.
How it happened
The second stage of the Giro d’Italia brought an unusually early summit finish – the earliest, in fact, in 35 years.
With the climb to Santuario di Oropa beckoning, the peloton chose to ease into the first half of the race. They let a five-rider breakaway loose, an all-Italian group, who cruised through the Piedmont plains just a handful of minutes up the road.
With 52km to go, EF Education-EasyPost’s Andrea Piccolo went in search of solo glory. The 23-year-old shot out of the breakaway and rode alone over two category-three climbs, sweeping up sprint and mountains points.
At the foot of the final climb, disaster struck for Pogačar. A front wheel puncture left the Slovenian off the back of the peloton, crashing to the floor as his tyre came off the rim.
Long-term cycling fans thought immediately to Pantani, who, on the same slopes in 1999, suffered a mechanical and passed 49 riders to take victory and seal the pink jersey. Could Pogačar do the same? Yes, it would turn out, he could.
Paced back to the front by his UAE Team Emirates team-mates, Pogačar and the bunch swept up Piccolo to set up a GC battle on Oropa. With 4.5km to go, the two-time Tour champion rose out of his saddle and thrashed down on his pedals. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) tried to follow, towing Thomas, but one bike length quickly stretched out to four, and Pogačar sailed clear, on his way to victory.
At the line, the Slovenian's advantage extended to 27 seconds. He wasted no time in celebrating before the race was over, instead opting to eke out as many seconds as he could over his pink jersey rivals.
For now, and perhaps for the next three weeks, that jersey belongs to him.
Results
Giro d'Italia 2024, stage two: San Francesco al Campo > Santuario di Oropa (161km)
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 3-54-20
2. Dani Martínez (Col) Bora-Hansgrohe, +27s
3. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
4. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan
5. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, all at same time
6. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +30s
7. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike
8. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, both at same time
9. Juanpe López (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +35s
10. Jan Hirt (Cze) Soudal Quick-Step, +37s
General classification after stage two
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 3-54-20 2.
2. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, +45s
3. Dani Martínez (Col) Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time
4. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, +54s
5. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, at same time
6. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan, +1-05
7. Juanpe López (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +1-09
8. Jan Hirt (Cze) Soudal Quick-Step, +1-11
9. Esteban Chavez (Col) EF Education-EasyPost, +1-24
10. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan, at same time
