Giro d’Italia 2023

Stage 2 – Teramo > San Salvo (202km)

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Giro d’Italia Stage 2 Profile – Teramo > San Salvo (202km)

Stage 1 Result

1st Remco Evenepoel (7/4)

2nd Filippo Ganna (10/11F)

3rd Joäo Almeida (125/1)

Stage 1 Bets

Edoardo Affini 0.5pts each way (3 places) @40/1

Jay Vine 0.5pts each way (3 places) @225/1 – 7th

A decent run for our money with Vine at a big price but Evenepoel was a league above. Affini, along with most Jumbo-Visma riders, disappointed – probably not helped by their extremely disrupted build-up.

Stage 2 Preview

A first chance for the sprinters on a mainly coastal route passing through Pescara. No doubt we’ll see a breakaway of riders from the smaller Italian teams keen for some TV exposure and the chance to grab some mountain points, before it all comes back together for a bunch finish.

On the run-in, positioning will be important for a left at a roundabout before a right-hander under the flamme rouge. After that, it’s a straight and flat charge to the line on what should be dry roads with another warm day forecast.

Stage 2 Contenders

Having been in the doldrums for the last few years, Team Movistar’s Fernando Gaviria comes in full of confidence after an impressive final stage win at the Tour de Romandie. But despite the clear air he put between himself and his rivals, he didn’t really beat any pure sprinters so it’s difficult to assess how good that was. That said, the Giro d’Italia has been a happy hunting ground for the Colombian with five previous stage wins and is the current favourite at around 5/2.

Trek-Segafredo’s Mads Pedersen has made the maglia ciclamino his main target for this Giro and is odds-on favourite to take it home. With plenty tough, lumpy days ahead, it’s difficult to imagine the Dane not getting his arms in the air at least once especially if the weather turns a bit nasty, and the intermediate points he’ll pick up will make him difficult to beat in the fight for that jersey. The former world champion had a great spring classics campaign with five top 10s including a third at the Tour of Flanders and continued that form with a solid 12th on the opening day TT. However, he must’ve gone deep for that and those sprinters that took it a little easier may have a bit extra in their legs after 200km of racing. On this pretty flat route, Pedersen is as vulnerable as he’s going to be in a sprint – but that doesn’t mean he can’t win and is vying for favouritism at 11/4.

Arguably the fastest sprinter on the startlist is Kaden Groves. He won two stages at the Volta a Catalunya in March including an amazing ride following a bike change with a teammate inside the final 4km of stage 6. His positioning was often his downfall at Jayco-AlUla (or BikeExchange-Jayco as it was then) but those issues have improved since his switch to Alpecin-Deceuninck who are looking for a repeat of their success at last year’s Giro when they landed three stage wins. Surprisingly, most sprinters come here without a leadout but that’s not true of Groves who’ll have Ramon Sinkeldam, Kristian Sbaragli and Stefano Oldani to put him in position which could be vital for the tricky last 1.5km. The 7/2 about the Aussie is decent enough and he’s the bet selection for stage 2.

Astana-Qazaqstan have packed their squad with stage hunters, so Mark Cavendish will be one of those sprinters who’ll have to make his own chances with no real leadout to speak of. Things haven’t quite clicked yet for the British champion at his new home but there have been a couple of encouraging results including third at the prestigious Scheldeprijs one-day race. He recently pulled out of the Tour de Romandie sick after just one stage so there aren’t many reasons to be confident about Cav’s chances. That said, you can never write him off and it would be no surprise to see him add to his 16 Giro d’Italia stage wins at some point in the race, but the 6/1 about him here is surely too short.

Winner into Reggio Emilia on stage 11 in 2022, Team DSM’s Alberto Dainese is another with mixed results this season, but he’s clearly fast and the home roads may elevate his performance. There’s 14/1 available on the Italian repeating his success at last year’s Giro d’Italia on stage 2, but it’s Groves who gets the nod for this one.