site.btaSecond Giro d'Italia Stage Begins in Burgas as Matteo Moschetti Withdraws from Race

The second stage of the Giro d'Italia started in Burgas at 11:50 a.m. on Saturday, with the start officially given by Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov. He praised local residents for the huge interest shown on Friday, when the city streets were filled with spectators eager to watch some of the world's top cyclists.

During the second of the three race days on Bulgarian territory, riders will cover 221 kilometres to Veliko Tarnovo, making it the second-longest stage in the 109th edition of the Giro d'Italia.

As tradition dictates, the jersey holders started from the front row – general classification leader Paul Magnier of Soudal Quick-Step and mountains classification leader Diego Sevilla of Polti VisitMalta. Since Magnier holds three of the four jerseys, the cyclamen jersey for the points classification leader and the white jersey for the best young rider were worn respectively by Denmark's Tobias Lund Andresen of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team and Portugal's Antonio Morgado of UAE Team Emirates.

The peloton, however, was reduced by one rider. Italian cyclist Matteo Moschetti of Pinarello was unable to start after suffering a concussion in a crash during the final metres of Friday's stage from Nessebar to Burgas. He did not receive medical clearance to continue in the race. As a result, 183 riders started Saturday's stage.

The finish in Veliko Tarnovo is expected between 5:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.