Vingegaard's attack, another massive crash, and a surprise victory for Guillermo Thomas Silva in stage 2 of the Giro

The second stage of the 2026 Giro d'Italia seemed designed for a duel between favorites and punchers, but ended up being a completely unpredictable day. Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) won in Veliko Tarnovo after a chaotic resolution in which Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) seemed to be vying for victory, until they were neutralized in the last kilometer by the chasing group.

  Vingegaard shakes up the Giro in stage 2 and Guillermo Thomas Silva wins and dons the pink jersey

The 24-year-old Uruguayan achieved the most important victory of his career and also delivered a huge win for XDS Astana on a day that had it all: rain, a massive crash, race neutralization, favorites attacking from afar, and a completely shattered finish.

Vingegaard attacked 8 km from the finish

The stage between Burgas and Veliko Tarnovo featured 221 kilometers and 2,600 meters of elevation gain, with a perfect finish for explosive riders and general classification contenders. The key point was the climb to the Lyaskovets monastery, 3.9 kilometers at 6.8%, peaking just eight kilometers from the finish before a technical finish with wet cobblestones and ramps of up to 9%.

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The day started relatively calmly with Diego Pablo Sevilla and Mirco Maestri, both from Polti-VisitMalta, forming the break of the day. Sevilla also took the opportunity to consolidate his lead in the mountains after passing first over the categorized climbs of Byala and Vratnik.

Meanwhile, the peloton began to pick up the pace in the rain with Visma-Lease a Bike, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Netcompany Ineos, and XDS Astana moving to the front before the conclusion.

The race really 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 follow the Dane but eventually fell back, while Giulio Pellizzari reacted to close the gap. Behind, Paul Magnier quickly lost contact and the Maglia Rosa was ruled out for the stage victory.

A massive crash struck the Giro again

The stage had already been marked by a huge collective crash with about 25 kilometers to go that sowed chaos in the peloton just a day after the massive accident 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 leave in an ambulance, while Andrea Vendrame was severely affected and Rémí Cavagna showed clear signs of injury to his collarbone.

A very hard crash in the peloton with Adam Yates and more than a dozen riders affected

The race is currently neutralized#GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/Jo5oHxJY6i

— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) May 9, 2026

The situation even forced a temporary neutralization of the race while ambulances attended to the fallen riders and medical cars tried to reorganize the peloton.

Van Eetvelt, Pellizzari, and Vingegaard left without a prize

After the neutralization and the final climb, Vingegaard managed to open a gap alongside Pellizzari and Lennert Van Eetvelt. The trio entered the last kilometers with about 15 seconds of advantage and seemed to be vying for victory among themselves.

However, they began to watch each other too closely in the final stretch. Van Eetvelt tried to surprise under the banner of the last kilometer, Christen still managed to come back from behind, and the lack of understanding allowed the chasing group to catch up practically at the line.

That’s when Guillermo Thomas Silva appeared. The Uruguayan launched his sprint from behind and ended up surpassing Florian Stork (Tudor) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) to secure a completely unexpected victory.

A chaotic finale as the cards are reshuffled inside the last 500 metres

Un finale caotico e la carte si rimescolano negli ultimi 500 m

The @continentaltire Ultimo Kilometro#GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/6rCyXQgrot

— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 9, 2026

Stage 2 results Giro d'Italia 2026

1. Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) – 5:39:25
2. Florian Stork (Tudor) – same time
3. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) – same time
4. Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) – same time
5. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) – same time
6. Matteo Sobrero (Lidl-Trek) – same time
7. Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) – same time
8. Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – same time
9. Martin Tjøtta (Uno-X Mobility) – same time
10. Mathys Rondel (Tudor) – same time.