Guillermo Thomas Silva won stage two of the Giro d'Italia to become the first Uruguayan to win a Grand Tour stage after a dramatic sprint following a crash involving nearly 20 riders. The incident disrupted the hilly, rain-soaked 221 km ride from Burgas to Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria.
Race Disrupted by Mass Crash
The race was temporarily neutralised after the crash around the 198km mark, which left several riders injured and forced the Australian Jay Vine and Norwegian Adne Holter to abandon. Spaniard Florian Stork finished second, while Italy's Giulio Ciccone took third. The XDS Astana rider Thomas Silva claimed the pink jersey from stage one winner Paul Magnier of France.
"This is only the second stage of my first Giro d'Italia and I'm the winner. It was a bit unexpected. I'm speechless," said Thomas Silva.
Early Breakaway and Final Sprint
The stage started without Matteo Moschetti, who was caught in a crash on Friday and became the first competitor to abandon the race. Mirco Maestri and Diego Pablo Sevilla attacked early and moved five minutes ahead of the peloton. They remained unchallenged through the climbs to Byala Pass and Vratnik Pass, where Sevilla led to the top.
However, the peloton slowly chipped away at the breakaway riders in rainy conditions. Once the weather cleared, Maestri and Sevilla were caught with 27km left in the stage. But the mass crash followed soon after. Marc Soler appeared to be the first to hit the slippery ground, with several others getting caught, some hitting or going over a guard rail.
The race resumed with 18.2km left. Jonas Vingegaard attacked during the Lyaskovets monastery pass, opening a gap with the peloton near the top as Giulio Pellizzari and Lenny Van Eetvelt chased him down the descent. With half a kilometer left, the peloton caught the leading group, leading to a frantic sprint where the 24-year-old Silva prevailed in a photo-finish.
"I just had to keep calm and launch the sprint at the right time... this is the maximum I could hope for," Thomas Silva said.
The race continues on Sunday with a 175km flat stage from Plovdiv to Sofia, before heading to Italy after a rest day for Tuesday's ride across Calabria from Catanzaro to Cosenza.
