A solo effort was scheduled in the streets of Tirana for the second day of racing in the 2025 Giro d’Italia. For David Gaudu, the goal was to limit the losses, and the Frenchman performed rather well in this regard. At the finish, he lost fifty-five seconds to winner Joshua Tarling, roughly the same to Primoz Roglic, but less to the other favorites. Before a key stage on Sunday, he sits twenty-fifth overall.
Twenty-four hours after quite an intense start, the Giro resumed on Saturday with a time trial with various stakes in the Albanian capital. In addition to the first fight for the general classification, the pink jersey was also up for grabs in this second stage, on a fast course that still included a dozen corners. “It was a nice time trial with wide boulevards in the city, and a three-minute climb in the middle,” said David Han. “It could have become dangerous if the weather hadn’t been good, but fortunately it didn’t happen.” All the riders were able to cover the 13.7-kilometre course on dry roads, and Enzo Paleni opened the day for Groupama-FDJ just before 2 p.m., before Clément Davy, Rémy Rochas and Quentin Pacher took on the route as well. Shortly after 3 p.m., Kevin Geniets, Lorenzo Germani and Sven Erik Bystrom set off one after the other. “For everyone except David, the goal was to think long-term and about the stages where they’ll be able to seize opportunities,” said David Han. “We know we don’t have a rider able to finish in the top 20 in a time trial like today. Rather than going all out and wasting our energy, it was better to save some. The Giro lasts three weeks, and you have to focus more on the days when you can aim for victory than on finishing twenty-fifth in a time trial.”
“A good time trial overall,” David Han
Clément Davy and Enzo Paleni still set decent times, in less than seventeen minutes. Then David Gaudu, who finished in the front on Friday, began his time trial at 4:03 p.m. He finished seventeen minutes and two seconds later. “It was a demanding time trial, with lots of corners, after which you constantly needed to push again, put the gears back up, and put in the power,” he said. “He did a very good time trial,” his coach added. “He only got stuck in a bit in the last three kilometres, due to the lack of specific training following his injury and his current shape. However, it was a good time trial overall, and we’re within the time range we set for ourselves at the start.” “I told myself it would be decent if I lost between forty-five seconds and one minute to the other favorites,” confirmed David. “Considering where I come from, and the number of times I’ve been on the time trial bike this year, it’s still a decent performance. I’m happy I was able to go all out, and even if I cracked a little in the last part, it’s still a satisfying time trial.” Eventually, among the favorites, only Primoz Roglic beat him by more than forty-five seconds on Saturday.On GC, the Breton climber is now in 25th place, 54 seconds behind the new Slovenian pink jersey, and on the eve of a stage that could be tricky. A ten-kilometre climb averaging 7.5% will indeed be covered with forty kilometres to go on Sunday. “It will probably be the first real fight of the Giro tomorrow, and I’m already looking forward to it,” David said.
