Giro d’Italia 2025 LIVE: Time-trial start times and latest updates from stage 2 in Tirana

So far 23 riders have crossed the finish line and Ethan Hayter, twice a British time-trial champion, has set the early pace with a time of 16min 21sec. There is still plenty of firepower to come and knock him off top spot…

Stage two of the 2025 Giro d’Italia has begun, with the first few riders now out on the 13.7km course, which is drenched in sunshine this afternoon.

Spaniard Mikel Landa sustain a fractured back in a crash with around 5km to go in yesterday’s opening stage.

Announcing that he had abandoned the event, Landa’s team Soudal-Quickstep said: “Mikel was immediately taken to the hospital, where examinations and a CT scan revealed that he had suffered a stable fracture of the Th 11 vertebra.

“This will require Mikel to remain in a stable lying position for an extended period of time. He will remain at the hospital overnight, before further assessment and a plan for this return home will be made.”

Niklas Markl (Picnic PostNL) will get the stage going shortly before 12.25pm BST. Here are some riders to watch:

124 14:28:00 Tarling, Joshua INEOS Grenadiers

154 14:58:00 Ayuso, Juan UAE Team Emirates – XRG

156 15:00:00 McNulty, Brandon UAE Team Emirates – XRG

161 15:05:00 Vacek, Mathias Lidl – Trek

168 15:14:00 Roglic, Primoz Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe

178 15:44:00 Pidcock, Thomas Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team

181 15:53:00 van Aert, Wout Team Visma | Lease a Bike

182 15:56:00 Pedersen, Mads Lidl – Trek

It was Pedersen’s second career stage win in the Giro, having also won in Naples two years ago.

Pedersen has also won two stages at the Tour de France, and three at the Spanish Vuelta. Giro d’Italia organizers said he will be the first rider from Denmark to wear the pink jersey.

“To top it off with the pink jersey is absolutely amazing,” Pedersen said. “It’s my first leader’s jersey in a Grand Tour.”

Venezuelan rider Orluis Aular crossed third.

Pedersen, who won the world title in 2019, edged Van Aert by half a wheel in the hilly 160-kilometer (99-mile) stage from Durres to Tirana, which had a flat finish.

“We had a clear plan today and the team was really amazing to put that hard a tempo on the climb. That was exactly what we wanted,” Pedersen said of how his Lidl-Trek team set the pace on the final third-category climb. “We made a plan and we fulfilled the plan.”

Today’s profile is relatively flat, with one category four hill to hurt the legs midway throught the short 13.7km course.

Here is a look at today’s route around the Albanian capital:

Of the other maglia rosa contenders Italian youngster Antonio Tiberi should be well placed to profit from the time gaps to some of the weaker time-triallists, while for the likes of Richard Carapaz, Einer Rubio, veterans Romain Bardet and Mikel Landa, and climber Giulio Ciccone it will be a case of damage limitation.

Within the UAE Team Emirates-XRG hierarchy we may see some movement too: Ayuso and Adam Yates are in theory co-leaders and both have TT pedigree, but the Brit may find himself slipping down the pecking order if his 22-year-old teammate is on song.

Of the specialists, Tarling, European time-trial champion Edoardo Affini, and the Czech pair of Josef Cerny and Mathias Vacek could be outsiders for a stage win.

Stage two of the 2025 Giro d’Italia gives the GC contenders have an early opportunity to throw down the gauntlet to their rivals, with a short time trial in Tirana, Albania.

Mads Pedersen took the leader’s pink jersey with victory in the sprint at the end of stage one, but could find himself handing it over to one of the major GC favourites on a second day in the Albanian capital.

It’s a largely flat, straightforward stage, with a category four bump in the road halfway through, which might be enough to put off the pure time-trial specialists like Ineos Grenadier’s Joshua Tarling – although expect the 21-year-old to put in a strong performance regardless – and favour the GC riders who are strong in a TT.

It’s not particularly technical either, with the exception of some sharp corners and U-turns: held on wide, sweeping roads through urban sprawl, with a pan-flat final 3km and a dead straight 500m sprint to the line. What it should be is fast.

At only 13.7km there shouldn’t be significant gaps between the big favourites, but with fewer serious mountain showdowns in this race – particularly, fewer summit finishes – than normal every second will count. Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso are the best against the clock of the main favourites and this could be a drag race between the pair to take the honours early on in the year’s first Grand Tour.