Welshman Josh Tarling won Stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia 2025 on Saturday, an individual time trial in downtown Tirana on the second of three days in Albania.

In the overall standings, pre-race favorite and 2023 Giro champion Primoz Roglic grabbed the coveted pink jersey from Friday's stage winner Mads Pedersen, who was an agonizing two seconds short of clinging on.

The 21-year old Tarling of Ineos is a time-trial specialist and finished the 13.7-kilometer circuit in 16 minutes, 7 seconds, which was one second faster than Roglic and three seconds faster than Jay Vine.

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Decked out in the British national time-trial jersey, Tarling held his head in his hands as he watched Pedersen on the home stretch.

"Winning today is truly exceptional," said Tarling, who came in fourth at the Olympic Games and might have won but for a heavy fall in the rain. "Waiting for the other riders to finish the course was difficult. I don't want to go through that again.

"I was afraid of all the favorites. Primoz was really impressive, so this first Grand Tour victory is a new step in my career."

Belgian star Wout van Aert had been expected to win this stage and claim the pink pullover, but he never put the hammer down, as he struggles to overcome a stomach bug.

Of the main overall contenders, most of them finished over 30 seconds down on Roglic, but with a relentless stream of hilly and mountain stages along the 3400-kilometer, 21-day race, the Slovenian won't be getting excited yet.

Primoz Roglic Leads Key Rival Juan Ayuso By 16 Seconds

Roglic leads his key rival, Team UAE's Juan Ayuso, by 16 seconds, as the 22-year-old Spaniard attempts to defend the title his team won with Tadej Pogacar in 2024.

Italian home hope Antonio Tiberi is 25 seconds down, Simon Yates of Visma is at 33 seconds and his twin brother Adam Yates of UAE is at 36 seconds.

Two former South American winners of the Giro also are looking to catch Roglic. Richard Carapaz of American outfit EF is 37 seconds down on Roglic, and Colombian Egan Bernal is at 48 seconds.

Those kind of gaps can go up in smoke over the space of a kilometer in the high mountains during the final week.

The final week of the Giro will be decisive with Stage 16, which features five Alpine mountains, and Stage 20, which ends with a grueling climb up the Colle delle Finestre to the Sestriere ski resort, the moment when the winner is likely to emerge.

The world and Olympic time-trial champion Remco Evenepoel is absent from this Giro, as are two other handy time-trial riders Filippo Ganna and defending Giro and Tour de France champion Pogacar.

Albania is hosting the first three days of the 2025 Giro, with the Balkan nation enjoying a tourism boom.

Sunday's third stage at Valona will showcase some of Albania's prettiest coastline, while the stage itself is largely flat and will favor the sprinters, who were dropped in the hills Friday, and who suffered through Saturday's individual effort.

Giro d’Italia Stage 2 Results – Top 25

1. Joshua Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers) – 16:07
2. Primož Roglič (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 16:08
3. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 16:10
4. Edoardo Affini (Team Visma - Lease a Bike) – 16:13
5. Mathias Vacek (Lidl - Trek) – 16:13
6. Daan Hoole (Lidl - Trek) – 16:15
7. Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek) – 16:19
8. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 16:20
9. Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) – 16:21
10. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 16:24
11. Jan Tratnik (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 16:25
12. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 16:25
13. Josef Černý (Soudal Quick-Step) – 16:28
14. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 16:29
15. Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) – 16:29
16. Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step) – 16:29
17. Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL) – 16:32
18. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) – 16:33
19. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 16:35
20. Derek Gee (Israel - Premier Tech) – 16:36
21. Filippo Baroncini (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 16:38
22. Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 16:39
23. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 16:39
24. Xabier Mikel Azparren (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 16:40
25. Wilco Kelderman (Team Visma - Lease a Bike) – 16:40

Giro d’Italia Overall Standings – Top 25 After Stage 2

1. Primož Roglič (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 3:52:32
2. Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek) – 3:52:33
3. Mathias Vacek (Lidl - Trek) – 3:52:37
4. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 3:52:44
5. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 3:52:48
6. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 3:52:49
7. Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL) – 3:52:56
8. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) – 3:52:57
9. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 3:52:59
10. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 3:53:03
11. Wout van Aert (Team Visma - Lease a Bike) – 3:53:04
12. Wilco Kelderman (Team Visma - Lease a Bike) – 3:53:04
13. Simon Yates (Team Visma - Lease a Bike) – 3:53:05
14. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 3:53:08
15. Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) – 3:53:09
16. Jai Hindley (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 3:53:11
17. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) – 3:53:11
18. Davide Piganzoli (Team Polti VisitMalta) – 3:53:12
19. Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 3:53:14
20. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl - Trek) – 3:53:14
21. Orluis Aular (Movistar Team) – 3:53:16
22. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) – 3:53:20
23. Romain Bardet (Team Picnic PostNL) – 3:53:23
24. Christopher Harper (Team Jayco AlUla) – 3:53:23
25. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) – 3:53:26

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