Before the Giro d'Italia started, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe sports director Patxi Vila told Cyclingnews that while the stage 2 time trial in Tirana would not be in any way decisive, it was at least challenging enough to show which GC riders were in top shape, and which would be left playing catch-up.
His analysis has proven 100% correct, with his own team leader, Primoz Roglič, delivering the first important blow in the GC battle in Tirana and claiming the overall lead. It's true Roglič and his team were visibly one of the stronger GC squads on stage 1's final hills, staying close to the front as Lidl-Trek powered up the pace to viciously high levels. But perhaps the scale of Roglič's early success in the stage 2 individual time trial, too, was even something of a pleasant surprise for his own Red Bull team.
Coming within a whisker of taking the stage ahead of an all-out specialist like Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) was already an important achievement. But to push an archrival like Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) to 16 seconds over such a short distance and gain an even bigger margin on all his other challengers was arguably even more significant long-term.
Second in the opening, even flatter Tirreno-Adriatico time trial this spring, and first the year before in the same TT test against another Ineos specialist, Filippo Ganna, was a result that Ayuso could have seen as evidence he might shine in Tirana on Saturday against Roglič. There was also the 2023 opening time trial of the Giro, too, where Remco Evenepoel managed to gap all the top rivals by 20 seconds or more, including Roglič, and put himself in pole position for the GC battle in the process.
But this time, it's Roglič who's in the driving seat, almost from day 1, and it's Roglič who can now ease back a little and wait for his rivals to start to challenge him in the climbs. As Vila told Cyclingnews before the race, 'Whoever's best-placed after stage 2 can afford to wait for the others to attack. They're under less pressure, and that's an advantage."
A second result like this in the Toscana stage 10 time trial would put Roglič in a really dominating position for the mountains, of course, but there are plenty of opportunities beforehand for him to come under attack. It's far from forgotten, too, how Red Bull seriously underestimated one rival in the Vuelta a España last year when they let Ben O'Connor gain over five minutes, and Roglič then had to fight hard to bring the Australian back into line.
The scenario in the 2025 Giro is a far cry from the Tadej Pogačar instant domination of the race last year, and it's fair to say that, compared to 2024, this edition still remains wide open. But once again, and to a far greater extent than had seemed possible after two relatively uncomplicated stages, Roglič's already confirmed that for now at least, he's the Giro's man to beat.
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