Tadej Pogačar crashes, remounts to win Giro d'Italia stage 2 and take pink jersey

Slovenian overcomes late tumble to go 45 seconds clear in general classification

Tadej Pogačar at the Giro d'Italia
(Image credit: Getty Images)

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. 

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Tom Davidson
Senior News Writer

Tom joined Cycling Weekly as a news and features writer in the summer of 2022, having previously contributed as a freelancer. He is the host of The TT Podcast, which covers both the men's and women's pelotons and has featured a number of prominent British riders.

An enthusiastic cyclist himself, Tom likes it most when the road goes uphill and actively seeks out double-figure gradients on his rides.