PREVIEW | Giro d'Italia 2025 stage 2 - Roglic, Ayuso, Van Aert and Tarling set to light up tricky time-trial

The Corsa Rosa is the first Grand Tour of the season and this year it will include a start in a nation that will for the first time in it's history host a Grand Tour, Albania; and also several mountain stages in it's second half whilst the first half will feature some tricky stages including one that goes through a lot of the Strade Bianche course. We preview stage 2.

The second day of the race will be an individual time-trial and an interesting one. 13.7 kilometers in distance and it will not be flat, as in the city of Tirana there will be an explosive ascent halfway through.

The short distance means that in the fight for the stage win, any second can count, and there will be risks taken in the Albanian capital to obtain this or even the pink jersey. However it's not an effort on flat roads only, as the riders do go up a small hill where there is an intermediate point after 8.1 kilometers. It is 1.5 kilometers at 4.9%, and the riders then go down the same road at high speeds... The flat sections will have a few technical corners where the difference can be made.

This can be treacherous, and key in the fight for the stage win. It's a very technical time-trial so this may not play much of a part but the northwestern wind will increase in intensity throughout the afternoon... But most importantly there is a small chance of rain in the early afternoon which may affect some riders.

Pink between Mads Pedersen and Wout van Aert? - Wout van Aert is a great time-trialist, but he showed some fragility today on the climb which does indeed seem to show his form isn't ideal. The Visma rider will certainly ride a great result, but equally he has the history of finishing close to victory but not taking it, and I think it'll happen again. The pink jersey could be obtained, but he's only got six seconds over the 'peloton' and I don't think he can hold that gap against everyone. Mads Pedersen is in a similar situation, I think he will defend himself very well and even potentially keep the race lead, but I don't know if he will have the legs to keep himself within 10 seconds from riders such as Roglic and Ayuso.

Big GC fight - Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso are of course the two main GC favourites and equally the two strongest time-trialists out of the GC men. With a small climb present in this time-trial, it can certainly favour them even if just by a couple of seconds - which can be crucial in such a short effort. Both want to be ahead of each other and above all gain time on the competition, so it's a max effort, and both have proven to be very strong even in these short-distance efforts.

TT specialists - Joshua Tarling is the main name to point out. The Briton lost time today so he isn't going for the pink jersey, his climbing legs don't seem to be where they could be so I fear the climb may not favour him here, but on the flat kilometers he certainly has the raw power to make his way towards a win. Perhaps the main favourite, and Edoardo Affini - reigning European Champion in the discipline - has been under the radar a lot but in a perfect day he can also take a win with no doubt.

We've got other GC riders such as Antonio Tiberi who will certainly ride a good time unless something odd happens; the likes of Derek Gee and Thymen Arensman lost time today which doesn't make a whole lot of sense and so it's hard to tell which version of themselves will they have in the TT... Equally, although not a GC rider, Jay Vine could be a contender for the stage win but a lot will depend on how he's recovered from today's crash.

UAE has Brandon McNulty and Isaac del Toro as potential strong cards for a top result here, Mathias Vacek of Lidl-Trek has proven to be a very talented time-trialist and was an absolute key piece for Mads Pedersen's win today which is a great sign; and we can keep an eye on other riders such as Jan Tratnik, Kasper Asgreen, Lorenzo Milesi, Mattia Cattaneo and Ethan Hayter for a potential strong result.

*** Joshua Tarling, Primoz Roglic
** Juan Ayuso, Wout van Aert, Mathias Vacek, Mads Pedersen
* Antonio Tiberi, Derek Gee, Edoardo Affini, Mattia Cattaneo, Ethan Hayter, Brandon McNulty, Isaac del Toro, Jay Vine

Pick: Primoz Roglic