Giro d'Italia 2025, stage 2: Tirana - Tirana (13.7k ITT)

[Cookster15]

A few GC guys lost time today with Lidl-Trek's efforts: Vine (crash), Martinez, Hirt, Meintjes and Gee. And poor Landa is out of the race already .

After this TT, all but Vine will lose significantly more time and he is 4mins down so is already assigned to full super domestique mode for Ayuso.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

A Giro d'Italia stage 2 ITT in a foreign capitol?

Don‘t think they‘ve ever ridden inside a capitol.

 

[Red Rick]

It's very similar length, only with a hill in it. And it also isn't like those Tirreno TTs are the only ones Ayuso has done well in.

They are the only ones that would warrant being in the conversation for the stage win here however. His prologues in other races have been consistently top 10/15 but nothing to suggest possible stage win.

I also don't think the hill is hard enough to really put GC riders in top 3 conversation.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Let's see if Ayuso feels today's crash (with 100km to go) tomorrow, being a bit beat up and bruised can be a problem in an ITT. He was up again right away, but looked a bit cooked at the end of the stage.

 

[Red Rick]

Let's see if Ayuso feels today's crash (with 100km to go) tomorrow, being a bit beat up and bruised can be a problem in an ITT. He was up again right away, but looked a bit cooked at the end of the stage.

Could also just be trying to be a little underooked going in because of the backloading.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Could also just be trying to be a little underooked going in because of the backloading.

That has often been a top Giro strat.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Ayuso to smoke the field tomorrow.

 

[AmRacer]

Rogla ftw

 

[Red Rick]

I will be very surprised if there are any GC contenders among the top 3 tomorrow. I struggle to see even a single one in the top 5 but maybe. I would also be surprised if Pedersen doesn't beat Van Aert. I think Tarling will surprise negatively and isn't as locked as perceived, at the very least.

Vacek, Pedersen, McNuggy or Tarling to win and also occupy the podium.

Yeah Van Aert struggling on the climb doesn't look great for the ITT.

 

[Cycling111]

I will be very surprised if there are any GC contenders among the top 3 tomorrow. I struggle to see even a single one in the top 5 but maybe. I would also be surprised if Pedersen doesn't beat Van Aert. I think Tarling will surprise negatively and isn't as locked as perceived, at the very least.

Vacek, Pedersen, Mcnuggets or Tarling to win and also occupy the podium.

There aren't five specialists in this Giro.
Only Tarling, and he's worst than Remco and Ganna.

I think Roglic or Ayuso can be in the top five, three, and even win one of them.

 

[Peyroteo94]

There aren't five specialists in this Giro.
Only Tarling, and he's worst than Remco and Ganna.

I think Roglic or Ayuso can be in the top five, three, and even win one of them.

Hum... He was 20 years old last year and Ineos was very underwhelming in TTs. They seem better this year and Tarling's performance in UAE was very good. There is a possibility Tarling will be the best Time triallist in the world in a near future.

 

[Cycling111]

Hum... He was 20 years old last year and Ineos was very underwhelming in TTs. They seem better this year and Tarling's performance in UAE was very good. There is a possibility Tarling will be the best Time triallist in the world in a near future.

The UAE Tour time trial was 12 km completely flat, without a single hill and less curve
Tomorrow there's a hill and 14 curves. There are several tight curves.

On a completely flat and straight ITT, Tarling would be the favorite tomorrow. With that route, I have more doubts.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Can Tarling win with that hill?

IMO the hill will be the lesser prominant factor for the pecking order. More crucial is the amount of sharp cornering, 180°'ers, maybe wet or damped course and those matters.
I'll not bet my kidneys but Mads and Wout will not be in the top 2,

I think more of a surprise maybe being a lightweighter predator in bike handling and numerous accelerations. An Ala in his prime and his odds would be 1.01 or the like for those slopes.

Edit: Could be a Pidcock-type, if just a sligtly better ITT specs.
Ok, if Ayuso is in "the" mode of cornering attacks I think my penny will go to him.

 

[Cycling111]

Indeed that, plus his buildup, will make it difficult for him to recover as efficiently as the others by tomorrow. On top of that, this TT relies more on brute force, something he has lacked slightly throughout the year following his knee injury from last year's Vuelta. He struggles to generate equal power on that leg as he used to, which is a well-known fact and shouldnt be underestimated especially since weve seen it all year so I dont get how this is considered an upset I really dont! Imo, it would surprise me a lot if he beat Pedersen even in a TT like this given their current form—but I'd be happy to be wrong for once.

Again, same here, if anyone, it’s Roglic, but I don’t think so. Several other guys are capable of generating more raw power than him, which will be the key factor here, 13km TT. I would be very impressed and shocked if they make the top 3, but I just can’t see it happening. They’ll also dont come in blasting, as this Giro is backloaded, and with such a short TT that relies purely on raw power, I would be shocked. Personally, I don’t see it happening at all—but let’s see.

A route with so many tight curves doesn't allow for the deployment of power.
It's an ITT that hurts Tarling and specialist. He can win it, but it's not the best route for him.

The UAE Tour's ITT was the complete opposite. Flat, with long straights and very open corners, it allowed for greater power deployment.

 

[hayneplane]

It would not surprise me at all if McNulty won tomorrow.

It’s good that with the first stage ending with a smaller group than could have been expected we will have a nice concentrated group of GC prospects rather than them spread across 4 hours as it might have been on a day 1 ITT.

 

[Red Rick]

Aren't they just riding on the main roads of Tirana, meaning that the corners should be pretty smooth and wide?

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

IMO the hill will be the lesser prominant factor for the pecking order. More crucial is the amount of sharp cornering, 180°'ers, maybe wet or damped course and those matters.
I'll not bet my kidneys but Mads and Wout will not be in the top 2,

I think more of a surprise maybe being a lightweighter predator in bike handling and numerous accelerations. An Ala in his prime and his odds would be 1.01 or the like for those slopes.

Edit: Could be a Pidcock-type, if just a sligtly better ITT specs.
Ok, if Ayuso is in "the" mode of cornering attacks I think my penny will go to him.

Ok, my eyes totally misread the stage length!
Thought it was prologue like 7k.

Now with the right scale, I'm more open to types like Tarling and Pedersen and Wout.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

200 IQ by Ayuso to finish well down, although he might still not catch his minute man. But Francesco Busatto really needs those three minutes to Thomas Pidcock so he doesn‘t catch him. What were they thinking?

 

[AlpRaid]

Hoping Bernal and Simon Yates stay close.

 

[AnotherArmChair]

In coming swagger by Roglic as he wins by a good few seconds.
Ja ja ja

I wish Nairo was in pink again so I could see one more time those great little pink boots he wore

 

[CyclistAbi]

I don't feel the time differences will be all that big so this is an ITT for some prestige. Said that maglia rosa will likely switch riders and Rogla will likely do the best in between GC riders.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Ayuso, McNulty, or Roglic to win.

 

[Boehmand]

Vacek riding his heart out and taking pink would be one of the cooler things in a while

 

[proffate]

You must be out of kidneys by now.

On the contrary he must have a stockpile of kidneys by now (not sure who's taking the other side of his wagers though)

 

[Oldman]

A route with so many tight curves doesn't allow for the deployment of power.
It's an ITT that hurts Tarling and specialist. He can win it, but it's not the best route for him.

The UAE Tour's ITT was the complete opposite. Flat, with long straights and very open corners, it allowed for greater power deployment.

Remember how Remco won the Oly TT: spinning cadence and settled positioning that allowed him to ride around wet corners. The Big Dudes were breaking into wet corners and then accelerating back up to speed. The lighter guys can have an advantage here, especially those with quick accelerations.