This Saturday, Uruguayan cycling experienced one of the most important moments in its history. Guillermo Thomas Silva He became the first runner from his country to win a stage of the Giro d’Italia and also the first Uruguayan to wear the pink jersey as leader of the competition’s usual classification.
The 24-year-old rider, member of the XDS Astana team, He won the second stage of the 109th edition of the race, held between Burgas and Veliko Tarnovo, in Bulgaria. Silva crossed the finish line after 221 kilometers with a time of 5 hours, 39 minutes and 25 seconds, ahead of the German Florian Stork and the Italian Giulio Ciccone.
The victory came at the end of the flee after a day marked by falls, rain and multiple changes of pace. The Uruguayan celebrated in disbelief as soon as he crossed the finish line, putting his hands to his head before celebrating the most important victory of his professional career.
“I’m on cloud nine. It’s only my second stage in the Giro d’Italia and I’ve already managed to win and even keep the pink jersey.“Declared Silva. “I felt good, but I never imagined I could achieve something like this.”
A bumpy stage and a frenetic closing
The race had several tense moments on the Bulgarian roads. Under rainy conditions, the Italian Mirco Maestri and the Spanish Diego Pablo Sevilla staged an early escape that ended 27 kilometers from the finish, when they were caught up by the peloton.
Shortly afterward there was a strong collective fall on a wet cornerwith just over 20 kilometers to go. About 15 runners ended up on the ground. The British Adam Yates continued the stage with blood and mud on his face, although he lost almost 14 minutes and was practically out of the fight for the title.
“The chilling fall in the second stage of the Giro” The second stage shook the peloton again with another tremendous pileup with 30 riders involved. Yates ended up bleeding, and Vine and Soler quit. The race had to be neutralized due to lack of ambulances.😲😥🫣 pic.twitter.com/VUvCauOgEf
— ⚡MazaCiclismo⚡ (@RuedaPedal) Might perchance well perhaps more over 9, 2026
Cyclists Jay Vine and Marc Soler left the competition after being transported by ambulance following the accident.
Meanwhile, Jonas Vingegaard, one of the favorites prior to the start of the Giro, avoided the fall and tried to take advantage of the mountainous stretch towards the finish line to launch an attack. The Dane joined the leading group in the final kilometers, although he was finally caught up by the peloton 300 meters from the finish.
Silva found the ideally suited scenario there. His teammate Christian Scaroni set him up for the final flee and the Uruguayan managed to maintain the advantage until the finish line.
“I have to thank Christian Scaroni, who helped me both in chasing the leaders and in preparing the flee,” said Silva. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget this day.”
With the result, The runner born in Maldonado was at the head of the usual classification with a cumulative time of 9h00’23”, four seconds ahead of Florian Stork and the Colombian Egan Bernal. Vingegaard appears in position 15, ten seconds behind the leader.
The third stage will be held this Sunday on a mostly flat 175-kilometer route between Plovdiv and Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The Giro d’Italia will conclude on May 31 in Rome.
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