2026 Giro d'Italia Stage 2 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 2 of the 2026 Giro d'Italia! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
Stage 2 of the Giro takes the riders from Burgas to Veliko Tarnovo. The 220-kilometre route runs from the Black Sea coast into the hilly interior. The finale is spiced up by a hefty leg-breaker eight kilometres from the finish.
We find Burgas on the Black Sea coast. From there, the peloton heads into Bulgaria’s interior, following an almost straight line westwards. The riders travel westwards towards Sliven before the landscape changes from flat to hilly. They crest the Byala Pass after 7.7 kilometres of climbing at an average gradient of 4.6%. Immediately after the (short) descent, the next ascent begins: the Vratnik Pass, which rises for 5.3 kilometres at an average of 5.4%, topping out at 920 metres above sea level.
There will undoubtedly be riders in the breakaway who fancy their chances of picking up points for the mountains jersey on both passes. The odds of the break surviving all the way to the third and final climb of the day are slim. The summit of the hairpin-laden climb to the Lyaskovets Monastery lies just 8 kilometres from the finish. The road rises for 3.5 kilometres at around 7.5%, which should be tough enough to put the pure sprinters into difficulty, leaving them unable to contest the spoils at the line.
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