Bernal and Arensman into early Giro top five

Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman climbed up the general classification following a dramatic second stage at the Giro d’Italia - sitting third and fourth overall.

Wet roads and a tricky final climb saw splits amongst the overall contenders, on a stage impacted by a large crash with 23 kilometres to go.

Netcompany INEOS’ riders had positioned themselves well at the head of the race and were able to avoid issues on the slick Bulgarian roads.

Shortly after the race was briefly neutralised, both Bernal and Arensman were able to secure six and four bonus seconds respectively at the intermediate sprint.

Despite the race splitting up on the Lyaskovets Monastery Pass, the groups would ultimately combine inside the final kilometre.

Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) would win the reduced bunch sprint, and with it claim a surprise maglia rosa in the process.

Bernal and Arensman now sit just four and six seconds back on the lead, with one final stage to contest in Bulgaria before the opening rest day.

For Netcompany INEOS it was a day of strong teamwork and positioning, which paid off in key moments. Jack Haig, Embret Svestad-Bardseng and Filippo Ganna were amongst those who helped bring the team to the fore during the lengthy 221km test.