Rafferty into top 10 at Giro d'Italia as Mullen puts in massive day

Ryan Mullen got to the front during stage 2 of the Giro and sat there for mile after mile pulling the peloton along; a huge day of work for him (Photo: Fabio Ferrari)

There may be only two Irish riders in the Giro d'Italia this year, after Eddie Dunbar was forced to miss the race, but both of them made their presence felt on the 221km stage 2 to Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, today.

Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost) has already begun making the most of his new freedom, getting off the front in the final today and moving himself up to 10th overall.

But before Rafferty did that, Ryan Mullen (NSN Cycling Team) was one of the men of the stage. With sprinters Ethan Vernon and Corbin Strong in his team, Mullen sat on the front for mile after mile today keeping the small breakaway in check.

He put in the type of performance, literally towing the bunch around for most of the day, that offered a reminder of why he is a sought-after team rider, and lead-out man, in the increasingly competitive international peloton.

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Unfortunately, things did not work out for Mullen's team today, with a crash at about 22km to go taking out a number of his team mates. It meant with the final climb trimmed back the peloton and the stage came down to a sprint, none of NSN's fast men were in the reckoning.

Darren Rafferty during a period of calm on stage 2, though the young Irishman was on the move at the front much later in the stage (Photo: Luigi Sestili-Mirror Media)

It was a frustrating end of the day for the team - after Vernon's 3rd place on the opening day. But while all of Mullen's work came to nothing, it was a truly impressive shift by the Irishman.

The racing was neutralised for a time after the crash, which involved many victims and left riders like Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates XRG) covered in both the mud from the road and grass verge and their own blood.

Rafferty stayed hidden for most of the stage and when Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) decided to take it up on the final climb, after the racing resumed with about 18km to go.

The Dane looked to be riding within himself with he attacked with 11km to go. Still, only two riders could match him - Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché).

Had they put the head down and gone for it, even though they only ever had a small advantage, they would have made it all the way. However, they had 20 seconds with 5km to go and then began watching each other, allowing a chasing group to close up.

Uruguay’s Guillermo Thomas Silva Coussan of XDS Astana Team stage wins stage 2 at Giro d’Italia, taking the race leader's jersey (Photo: Massimo Paolone)
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In that chasing group were just 30 riders and Rafferty was there; one of the last to make it across, just after the climb, with two others for company.

When the leaders slowed and the chasing group closed right up, Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates XRG) jumped across to them, making it four up front for the final kilometre.

However, just as the final sprint began, the four leaders were caught. Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana Team) got the benefit of a lead-out from team mate Christian Scaroni to win.

Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) was 2nd, with Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) 3rd. Rafferty was tucked away in the group, crossing the line in 20th and now moving up to 10th place.

He is equal on time with a large group of riders all 10 seconds down on new race leader Silva, the 24-year-old from Uruguay having the day of his life today.

The race continues tomorrow with the last of the Bulgarian stages, some 175km from Plovdiv to Sofia. With just a cat 2 climb crested shortly after the halfway mark, it may be one for the sprinters.

Mullen is clearly in good form and if his sprinters are on song in this race, he can surely help them to a stage win.

Rafferty looked good today, being able to think of himself as intended team leader Richard Carapaz was unable to start the race due to illness. Hopefully the 22-year-old can build on today's ride through the three weeks to come.

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