Giro d’Italia 2022 : Stage 2 – Simon Yates shocks with a time trial victory, Van der Poel stays in pink

Colour me pink! Simon PHILIP Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) only went and took a stormer of a time-trial victory on Stage Two of the Giro. The man from Bury flew along the flat and zoomed up the finishing climb with equal aplomb. A pink-clad Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) stomped on the pedals and used all his cyclocross skills to navigate the corners with supreme skill to take a close second. Fellow Dutchman, Tom Dumoulin, was quickest of an excellent Jumbo-Visma team to round out the podium.

A whole lot of corners and a cobbledy climb

You know I LOVE a time trial and the route for this short 9.2km effort made my mouth water.

Biniam Girmay start time for @giroditalia stage 2 is 16h54 (CET) pic.twitter.com/OqFznoh6N5

— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) May 7, 2022

Look at all those corners. They call for repeated muscle-screaming efforts as you accelerate out. They call for supreme bike handling if you are not going to bleed time around each of twenty bends you have to navigate. Throw in a part-cobbled climb at the end and you have a time-trial where the balance swings away from those purring time trial machines and throws the whole event wide open. In one word, such a parcours makes for the UNEXPECTED.

That’s exactly what we got. The hot seat in Budapest needed a revolving door at one point so quickly was the lead changing hands.

#Giro pic.twitter.com/IZ9m13ZwtQ

— Vincent Bennett (@vincentbennett1) May 7, 2022

Lennard Kamna (BORA-hansgrohe), Edoardo Affini (Jumbo Visma), BEX’s Matteo Sobrero all staked a claim early on.

Defeat today but I think Lennard Kämna is gonna set fire to the mountains later on in this #Giro105 with a stage-win or two.

Incredible shape he's in and such confidence to attack in the finale yesterday.

— Rasmus Nowak Franklin (@NowakFranklin_) May 7, 2022

Tom Dumoulin looked to have had the final say with a silky smooth ride.

💗 Giro d'Italia 2022 | Stage 2⃣

New best time: @tom_dumoulin!#Giro pic.twitter.com/uSRsnb5vRj

— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 7, 2022

But he never made it as far as the winner’s enclosure as Simon PHILIP Yates made collective jaws drop.

🇮🇹 #Giro

No hot seat for @tom_dumoulin as Simon Yates is five seconds faster 😢

— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) May 7, 2022

"I have 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 seen a time trial like this!"

No sooner had Tom Dumoulin turned back the clock and taken the lead, than Simon Yates 🇬🇧 passes him to set a mark of 1️⃣1️⃣.5️⃣0️⃣!#Giro | @SimonYatess | @GreenEDGEteam pic.twitter.com/8rVRBQ6uwl

— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 7, 2022

All eyes switched to the pre-stage favourite Mathieu VdP. He looked ice calm in pink on the start ramp, took the corners with FULL RISK and stomped up the cobbled climb as though he was attacking on the Muur de Geradsbergen. He fell short of victory by the narrowest of margins. Simon PHILIP Yates had done it.

… anybody have this on their Giro bingo card? What? Huh? https://t.co/CAsewOEGOq

— Issie 💙 (@IssieAtch) May 7, 2022

I don’t think anyone did… apart from Eurosport’s King Kelly, and you can’t argue with him.

This aged well https://t.co/DrkYuWoxJb

— Robbie McEwen AM (@mcewenrobbie) May 7, 2022

Here’s your highlights.

Happiest team in Budapest

It was a good day for the Aussie team, stage win and the maglia bianca.

#Giro 🇮🇹

It’s a team effort 💪@SimonYatess takes the stage win and @MatteoSobrero now leads the young rider classification 👏 pic.twitter.com/AyQAxpYeoP

— Team BikeExchange-Jayco (@GreenEDGEteam) May 7, 2022

Still pretty in pink

#Giro 💞

Mission accomplished! And second place in the TT. The Maglia Rosa stays with us. pic.twitter.com/gRSlFJ7ePf

— Alpecin-Fenix Cycling Team (@AlpecinFenix) May 7, 2022

I’d say it’s mission accomplished yet again for Mathieu. Of course it would have been history making to take back to back victories, but he still holds the maglia rosa and, barring disaster on stage three, looks set to take it back to Italy next week.

We have to talk about the bike.

⏰ Someone woke up in Rosa this morning!

⏰ Qualcuno si è svegliato in Rosa questa mattina!#Giro pic.twitter.com/q3RNH0s3Vy

— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 7, 2022

As beautiful as it looks…

Still say it's too early for a full pink bike. Harumphhhh

— midge (@pariswheels) May 7, 2022

It’s stage 2! Pink gloves and some matching chic socks would be classy, additional pink bar tape if you really want to make a statement.

What does this mean in the grand scheme of things Midge?

Usually I’d be shouting the full disclaimer about the silliness of extrapolating early stage results onto a three-week Grand Tour. However, these Hungarian stages have been intriguingly designed and have produced some tricky racing. The VeloVoices crew discussed how excited we were to see the field wide open in our Giro preview podcast and already we see the gaps beginning to yawn open. Some of them are so wide that I fear no amount of mountain stages will close them – hands tissue to Journal Velo over Cofidis’ Guillaume Martin being nearly a minute down already. On the other hand time lost on GC now now means either balls to the wall racing or stage hunting glory and who wouldn’t like to see that from Astana’s Miguel Angel Lopez, Trek-Segafredo’s Giulio Ciccone and Journal Velo’s Beloved. VAI VAI VAI!!! there is everything to play for.

#Giro, GC (Stage 2/21) | GC favorites + more pic.twitter.com/dDEtfx6EZt

— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) May 7, 2022

On the other hand, the likes of Wilko Kelderman (BORA-hansgrohe), UAE Team Emirates’ Joao Almeida, Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and Richard Carapaz (INEOS-Grenadiers) kept themselves right in contention and they’ll be full of confidence for the rest of their Italian adventure.

That’s one of the best TT’s I have seen Romain ride.

Leaving it all out there @romainbardet stops the clock in a time of 12'14", enough for a provisional 11th place.👌🏻 #KeepChallenging #Giro pic.twitter.com/futikenuEI

— Team DSM (@TeamDSM) May 7, 2022

That TT helmet on Carapaz though. I know it must be aero efficient, but it’s twice the size of his head!

Richard Carapaz la locomotora del Carchi, el campeón nacional de la CRI, hizo 12'18" queda a 28" de Simon Yates con 11'50"#Giro pic.twitter.com/YoFWNXYNKc

— Manuela Salazar (@manuela_salazar) May 7, 2022

Highlights

Ben Tulett’s time trial. Brilliant ride form the young Brit.

How about that TT from @bentulett01 ?

Ben finishes fifth in his first Grand Tour TT to move sixth overall ⏱️🙌@RichardCarapazM is 19th (+28") with @PavelSivakov 15th and @richie_porte (16th) making it four Grenadiers in the top 20 #Giro pic.twitter.com/Wg9wKyZb7W

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) May 7, 2022

Nothing makes my heart soar higher than watching riders in front of their home crowd. What special moments for Erik Fetter (EOLO-Kometa) Atilla Valter (Groupama FDJ) and

The Hungarian ITT champion, @fettererik drove the home crowd crazy! 🇭🇺 #Giro pic.twitter.com/fMcULiqDuI

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) May 7, 2022

What a moment for @ValterAttila

The Hungarian rider is greeted with a huge cheer from the fans in Budapest. #Giro | @GroupamaFDJ pic.twitter.com/e8XcHlNDKl

— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 7, 2022

The Last Word

I am all for this. #swashbuckling

I reckon the Prosecco uncorking on the podium should be done with a quick swish of a Hussar sabre. #Giro #SBScycling #couchpeloton

— Tête de la Course (@Tete_delacourse) May 7, 2022