Just a few hours after the GC skirmish of stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia, not to mention the dramatic and untimely exit of outside favourite Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) from the overall battle altogether, stage 2's 13.7-kilometre individual time trial through Tirana will see the Giro favourites put to the test again. But how much will such a short race against the clock really matter long-term?
The wholly urban, largely flat time trial is far from being one of the 2025 Giro d'Italia's major challenges, and at 13.7km, it's less than half the length than the much more challenging second TT at Lucca on stage 10.
However, if stage 1 has already seen Landa forced to abandon after a terrible crash and other potential top favourites like Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) and Dani Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) lose time as well, top team managers argue that stage 2's time trial will establish a much clearer pecking order amongst the remaining favourites.
As Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's Sports Director Patxi Vila told Cyclingnews, "stage 2 is like a microcosm of the GC battle".
"OK, it's only 13 kilometres so it's short and that's a 16-minute effort, more or less. But even so it's going to tell us important stuff, like which of the top names are in really good shape from the get-go.
"At the same time, if it's pretty clear that we and UAE [Team Emirates] are the maximum favourites, this'll give us a better idea of the battle order for each of our riders. It'll give us a better idea of where we are."
Psychologically, too, Vila said, the time trial will have an important effect on the GC battle too.
"If you manage to move ahead, that means the guys who are behind you have to drop you on the climbs, somewhere and at some point. You can be more conservative as a result, while for those have lost time, they know they will have to make that time up sometime. So the result here adds to the pressure long-term, or it reduces it."
Regarding top Giro d'Italia favourite Primož Roglič, Vila said that the fact that the Red Bull leader has barely raced his time trial bike this year - just once at the Volta ao Algarve - was not a major issue.
"It's true he's also only done two stage races this season, so he's not had a big opportunity, but given his experience and knowledge, that doesn't worry us so much."
As Vila pointed out, the stage 2 Tirana course is hardly a complicated one, either, as it's run off mainly broad, city centre boulevards. The first six kilometres are more technical, with no less than nine or 10 corners in that distance, but then it gets simpler, and the the mid-race climb to the checkpoint of Sauk rises a scant 75 metres in 1.7 kilometres.
On top of all of that, the weather is supposed to stay dry, reducing the risk of crashes despite the city centre traffic dirt and grime that always forms part of urban courses.
Actually winning such a short time trial is very much a specialist art. The GC favourites will all technically be in a shout - both Roglič and Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) have won early Giro TTs in their time - riders with a much fuller focus on their time trial performances like Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) are expected to shine even more brightly.
Perhaps in a bid to avoid the pressure, Tarling did not talk to the media at the start of stage 1 to give any real insight into his chances. But even if the Briton's loss of time in the final climbs on Friday means he no longer has options for the overall lead, his victory in the stage 2 time trial in the UAE Tour this spring speaks volumes about his potential to do well in a very similar distance TT on Saturday in Tirana.
"UAE was an exceptional result and his ability to read the courses is great," Ineos' Performance Director Scott Drawer told Cyclingnews before the Giro got underway.
"He's had a really good Classics campaign too, after that he was at home refining his approach with his coach and he's come here with a big smile on his face - and that's all we can ask for.
"Josh is a natural for this - he's got so much intuition and understanding about it all: the wind, the course, the terrain, the angles, the cornering. He's got all the strength for it, so he'll study for it, get a natural feel for it, then put the best in that he can, and we'll see what happens."
Tarling is also touted by Drawer both for the Giro's second race against the clock in Tuscany on stage 9 and for other stages, too. "He's a world class time triallist but there's so much more to him than that," as he put it.
But while Tarling's performances will undoubtedly catch the eye on the day, the main Giro interest in the Tirana time trial long-term, though will pivot around how the top favourites manage to get through - and above all, in what order and with what kinds of time gaps.
"It's quite technical in parts and in theory, the more technical a time trial is, the harder it is to create big gaps," EF Education-Easy Post Sports Director Juanma Garate told Cyclingnews.
"But it's still a chrono, nearly 14 kilometres long, too, so that is still a decent distance.
"The key thing about this time trial is that for the favourites, you will have had to come into the race in top form, and like every time trial, there won't be any hiding places."
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Climbs
- Sauk (Cat. 4), km 8
