VIDEO. Tadej Pogacar suffers a clumsy crash due to a flat tire and smashes the team car, but wins the second stage of the Giro in a dominant manner

Winning the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia was not possible on Saturday. A day later, Tadej Pogacar won the prize during the second stage, also the first with an uphill finish. Although the Slovenian all-rounders’ chances of winning seemed to go up in smoke about eleven kilometers from the finish.

Pogacar suddenly raised his hand in the air in the run-up to the final climb and signaled a flat tire. Even before his team car could catch up and provide their leader with a new bike, the UAE Team Emirates rider slipped. Pogacar bounced back and was visibly dissatisfied with the ‘daunting’ of his team. Road victory?

Nope. In the peloton, which had captured the lone Italian leader not long after the fall, Pogacar’s men took the lead, so that the Slovenian could return. Once connected, ‘Pogi’ attacked about four kilometers from the finish and – unlike on Saturday – he knocked everyone out of the wheel. A solo finish on top of the Oropa and the pink jersey was the result.

“I wasn’t really scared. I remained quite calm,” Pogacar returned to his slide afterwards. “I got into a hole in the city. My tire deflated super fast. Afterwards there was some confusion: I wanted to stop before the bend, but the team leader told me not to do it until afterwards. I was a little confused, and I fell. But it was nothing serious. I felt good, and the team was super strong today. They quickly brought me back to the front. And then we could ride the pace we wanted. That was perfect.”