Giro d'Italia 2023 Stage 2: Crash mars finale as Jonathan Milan wins reduced bunch sprint

Speaking at the finish, Evenepoel all but laid the blame at the door of his big rival Roglic when discussing the crash: “It was a pretty nasty crash. I actually saw it happen, so we know who we can actually blame for this crash. In the end, that’s racing – but it wasn’t a nice move, and luckily we stayed out of trouble and arrived safe.”

Jonathan Milan was heads and shoulders above the field today after an impressive victory from the 22-year-old debutant.

Tao Geoghegan Hart dropped 20 seconds by coming home in the second group today after that crash split the pack. He drops from fourth to eighth, 59 seconds down on the summit. The new top five:

1. Remco Evenepoel
2. Filippo Ganna +22
3. Joao Almeida +29
4. Stefan Kung +43
5. Primoz Roglic +43

It will take some time for the dust to settle but some GC riders will have lost valuable time today after that crash 4km from the finish. The maglia rosa is not one of them. I think Roglic and Geraint Thomas were in the front group, too. But we will have to wait and see.

The towering Italian won it by a bike length in the end after a superb sprint. He was boxed in at one moment and really had to check his speed before returning on the gas. Milan is clearly a popular figure because it's not just his Bahrain Victorious team-mates who are congratulating him. The top five:

1. Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious)
2. David Dekker (Arkea-Samsic)
3. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
4. Arne Marit (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty)
5. Marius Mayrhofer (Team DSM)

The top 10 was completed by Pascal Ackermann, Fernando Gaviria, Niccolo Nonifazio, Jake Stewart and Michael Matthews.

Wow - what a finish from the Italian, who thwarted the big name sprinters to take a maiden win on the Giro. Kaden Groves had a nice lead out and went against Fernando Gaviria and Pascal Ackermann - but Milan powered through the centre and never let anyone else have a sniff of the win. I think it was David Dekker who in the end took second place, too.

Only 40 odd riders left in it and Alpecin-Deceuninck hold the aces...

It's hard to see who is still here - but Mads Pedersen is one of the riders who was caught up by that crash, so the Dane is out as well as Cavendish, who did hit the deck. They pass that roundabout without any ado...

Alpecin-Deceuninck were drilling on the front when two DSM riders bumped shoulders after Jumbo veered across the road. A cluster of others go down - including mark Cavendish, who was hit from behind - and that will have implications on the GC because it happened before the 3km to go mark, and many have been caught up in the melee.

It's going to be a big ask for those at the wrong end to fight back into contention now. The pace is really high and soon we will see the sprinters come to the fore and the GC guys take a back seat.

For the British team it's all about GC and safety here as they flock forward to keep Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart out of trouble. Ben Swift may have been an option for them in the sprint... about 10 years ago.

It's relentless and stressful - and that's just for those watching. Groupama, Bahrain and Bora are now showing their cards, ditto Arkea-Samsic, who will want to set up the former Jumbo sprinter David Dekker.

The Australian needs a front wheel change - and that will take him out of the Jayco-AlUla train for team-mate and compatriot Michael Matthews.

To be fair, there are many other teams besides the outfits of Remco and Roglic who are on the front - because the road is big and wide, allowing for the peloton to bunch up with riders all in team formation. The tension is certainly rising after what has been a slow and sedate day in the saddle.

Oscar Rodriguez goes down - albeit gently - when the peloton bottlenecks, holding up his Movistar team-mate Einar Rubio and the Aussie rider Sebastian Berwick of Israel-Premier Tech. They will have a job chasing back on now through the race convoy.

We've reached that moment in the stage where the front is populated by both the GC guys - wanting to keep out of trouble - and the sprinters' teams ahead of the expected bunch kick. Soudal-Quick Step and Jumbo-Visma are very present for their leaders Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic. For some teams, the tasks will be split: Bahrain Victorious, for instance, will want to keep tabs on Jack Haig and Damiano Caruso, but also keep options open for Jonathan Milan.

With the exception of an Alpecin-Deceuninck rider in second wheel, it's all Trek-Segafredo now on the nose of the peloton as they pave the way for their man Mads Pedersen. Should the Dane win, he will complete his grand slam of Grand Tour stage wins in the space of 11 months. He's got to be one of the favourites - although does he have the raw speed of Groves, Gaviria or even Cavendish?

These three seem to be the riders on the tip of everyone's tongue for this sprint - they're certainly the trio with the best speed and form combination. Mark Cavendish would be a nice story, but the Manx Missile doesn't seem to have the zip of previous years, while DSM may be backing the wrong rider in Mayrhofer as opposed to Dainese. Who else? Jonathan Milan, Pascal Ackermann and Jake Stewart may look to get in the mix.

The three remaining riders - Thomas Champion, Stefano Gandin and Mattia Bais - shake hands and pat each other on the shoulder as they decide to call it quits. They put in a good ride but there was no way the teams of the sprinters were going to let this rare chance of a bunch sprint pass today.