Stage 2 of Giro d’Italia 2023 was designed by race organizer RCS Sport as a flat stage ideal for sprinters. The route was located in the Abruzzo region and the 202-kilometer route from Teramo to San Salvo featured only small bumps that were not expected to frighten any sprinters. Wind may influence the stage outcome as the route is located next to the Adriatic coast.

Under sunny skies, the Giro d’Italia peloton set out from Teramo when the local mayor launched the stage on the town square next to the beautiful Teramo Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) erected from 1158 after the former cathedral had been destroyed by Robert of Loritello. 

Located 150 kilometers from Rome, Teramo is situated between the Adriatic coast and the highest mountains of the Apennines, known as the Gran Sasso d’Italia. Teramo is known for the Palazzo Castelli and the Palazzo Vescovile. The surrounding areas are dominated by olive groves and vineyards. 

Some riders quickly attacked to form a breakaway group that would grant their teams valuable exposure on television. The group featured Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen), Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Mattia Bais (Eolo-Kometa), and Team Corratec-Selle Italia’s Stefano Gandin. Arkea-Samsic’s Alessandro Verre later bridged solo to the group. It didn’t take long for the group to establish a 04:30 minute lead that was later increased to almost six minutes.

With 108 kilometers left of the stage Verre was caught by the chasing peloton.

Soudal-Quickstep, Team DSM, Trek-Segafredo and Team Movistar riders were active at the front of the main peloton and were setting a fast pace to keep the breakaway hopefuls within a short distance.

The breakaway group was caught by the chasing peloton with 34 kilometers left of stage 2 while the sprint teams set up their resources for a final sprint across the finish line. Further back in the peloton, Giro d’Italia leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was showing off his pink race leader jersey to cycling fans along the route and viewers at home.

In the final ten kilometers Ineos-Grenadiers, Soudal-QuickStep, Jumbo-Visma, and Team DSM were dominant at the front of the peloton to position their sprinters and general classification favorites well for the climax.

With approximately three kilometers to go some riders were brought down by a crash caused by riders that failed to hold their lines in the hectic finale.

Jonathan Milan (Bahrain-Victorious) won the sprint from the reduced peloton group and is the winner of stage 2 of Giro d’Italia 2023. David Dekker (Arkea-Samsic) was the next rider to cross the finish line, while Kaden Groves completed the stage podium for his Alpecin-Deceuninck team. Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) finished sixth. Fernando Gaviria (Movistar Team) disappointingly took seventh.

In the general classification Remco Evenepoel remains overall Giro d’Italia leader for Soudal-QuickStep, while Filippo Ganna (Ineos-Grenadiers) is 22 seconds behind and Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) is third with a 29 second deficit on the race leader.

Monday’s stage 3 of Giro d’Italia 2023 will take place further south and is a 213-kilometer ride from Vasto to Melfi. The majority of the stage is located on a false flat while the final 45 kilometers of the stage involve climbing. The stage should animate breakaway hopefuls to launch late attacks in hopes of taking the stage victory.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from Giro d’Italia 2023.