Pogačar takes victory and the leader's pink jersey at end of second stage of Giro d'Italia

BIELLA, Italy (AP) — It only took Tadej Pogačar until the second day of his Giro d’Italia debut to make a mark on the Italian grand tour.

And the Slovenian star did it despite a puncture and a tumble, 11 kilometers (seven miles) from the end of the tricky second stage on Sunday, on the approach to the final climb.

Pogačar swiftly made his way back to the peloton and then attacked on his own 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the end to secure victory on the top-category uphill finish to Santuario di Oropa and the leader’s pink jersey.

Pogačar raised his arms and screamed in delight as he crossed the line, finishing 27 seconds ahead of Daniel Martínez and Geraint Thomas at the end of the undulating 161-kilometer (100-mile) route from San Francesco al Campo, that featured three categorized climbs.

“I just wanted a stage win today and some gap, to test the legs a little bit. And, yeah, the dream was to take the pink jersey,” Pogačar said. “Now I can relax a little bit the next few days with the team and we’ll stay safe in the sprints.”

The UAE Emirates cyclist took over the maglia rosa from Jhonatan Narváez, who had surprisingly edged Pogačar at the end of the opening stage on Saturday.

Pogačar moved 45 seconds ahead of last year's runner-up Thomas, who is likely to be his main challenger, and Martínez.

“Nothing new that, is it?” Thomas said. “We expected it. I was hoping to follow but I knew if I tried to keep going like that I would completely blow up.

“It’s OK for the second day ... obviously Tadej is, well, he’s Tadej.”

Rarely has the Giro had such an overwhelming pre-race favorite as Pogačar, with the two-time Tour de France winner targeting a Giro-Tour double.

There was a heart-stopping moment when Pogačar's front tire blew and he tumbled slowly to the ground. The incident had echoes of one of Marco Pantani's famous exploits, 25 years ago almost to the day, when the Italian cycling great also had a mechanical problem at the foot of the climb to Oropa but recovered to solo to stage victory.

Pogačar didn't seem fazed.

“Not really,” he said when asked afterward if he had been worried. "I was quite calm. I hit a hole in the city. I just had a super fast flat tire, I think I broke the wheel also … and then I also crashed but it was nothing serious.

“And I was feeling good. The team was super good today. So they bring me back to the front and then we set the pace that we like and it was perfect.”

This year’s Giro had an unusually tricky start — with most grand tours traditionally starting slow and steady — and Sunday saw the earliest mountain finish at the Giro since 1989 when the race began in Sicily and went up Mount Etna.

Monday’s third stage sees the sprinters get their first chance of the race along the mainly flat, 166-kilometer (103-mile) route from Novara to Fossano.

The Giro ends in Rome on May 26.

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Tadej Pogačar celebrates on podium after winning stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia from San Francesco al Campo to Santuario di Oropa, Italy, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Gian Mattia D'Alberto/LaPresse via AP)

Tadej Pogačar reacts after crossing the finish line to win stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia from San Francesco al Campo to Santuario di Oropa, Italy, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via AP)

A view of the pack during stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia from San Francesco al Campo to Santuario di Oropa, Italy, Sunday May 5, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

The pack rides during stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia from San Francesco al Campo to Santuario di Oropa, Italy, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Tadej Pogačar in the middle of the pack during stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia from San Francesco al Campo to Santuario di Oropa, Italy, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Geraint Thomas of Team Ineos - Grenadiers, in action, during stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia from San Francesco al Campo to Santuario di Oropa, Italy, Sunday May 5, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Tadej Pogačar celebrates on podium after winning stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia from San Francesco al Campo to Santuario di Oropa, Italy, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Tadej Pogačar wears the pink jersey of leader of the race after winning stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia from San Francesco al Campo to Santuario di Oropa, Italy, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Tadej Pogačar celebrates as he cycles to the finish line to win stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia from San Francesco al Campo to Santuario di Oropa, Italy, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Arizona's attorney general says former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been served an indictment in the state's fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes posted the news regarding the Trump-aligned lawyer on her X account late Friday.

“The final defendant was served moments ago. @RudyGiuliani nobody is above the law,” Mayes wrote.

The attorney general’s spokesman Richie Taylor said in an email to The Associated Press on Saturday that Giuliani faces the same charges as the other defendants, including conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges.

Giuliani’s political adviser, Ted Goodman, confirmed Giuliani was served Friday night after his 80th birthday celebration as he was walking to the car.

“We look forward to full vindication soon,” Goodman said in a statement Saturday.

The indictment alleges that Giuliani “pressured” Arizona legislators and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to change the outcome of Arizona’s election and that he was responsible for encouraging Republican electors in Arizona and six other contested states to vote for Trump.

Taylor said an unredacted copy of the indictment will be released Monday. He said Giuliani is expected to appear in court Tuesday unless he is granted a delay by the court.

Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, is among others who have been indicted in the case.

Neither Meadows nor Giuliani were named in the redacted grand jury indictment released earlier because they had not been served with it, but they were readily identifiable based on descriptions in the document. The Arizona attorney general’s office said Wednesday that Meadows had been served and confirmed that he was charged with the same counts as the other named defendants, including conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges.

With the indictments, Arizona becomes the fourth state where allies of the former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims about voter fraud related to the election.

Giuliani was also indicted last year by a grand jury in Georgia, where he is accused of spearheading Trump’s efforts to compel state lawmakers in Georgia to ignore the will of voters and illegally appoint pro-Trump electoral college electors.

Among the defendants are 11 Arizona Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Trump won in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election — including a former state GOP chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers. The other defendants are Mike Roman, who was Trump’s director of Election Day operations, and four attorneys accused of organizing an attempt to use fake documents to persuade Congress not to certify Biden’s victory: John Eastman, Christina Bobb, Boris Epshteyn and Jenna Ellis.

Trump himself was not charged but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator.

The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.

Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes.

Eastman, who devised a strategy to try to persuade Congress not to certify the election, became the first person charged in Arizona’s fake elector case to be arraigned on Friday. He pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges.

Eastman made a brief statement outside the courthouse, saying the charges against him should have never been filed.

“I had zero communications with the electors in Arizona (and) zero involvement in any of the election litigation in Arizona or legislative hearings. And I am confident that with the laws faithfully applied, I will be fully be exonerated at the end of this process,” Eastman said. He declined to make further comment.

Arraignments are scheduled May 21 for 12 other people charged in the case, including nine of the 11 Republicans who had submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Trump had won Arizona.

The Arizona indictment said Eastman encouraged the GOP electors to cast their votes in December 2020, unsuccessfully pressured state lawmakers to change the election’s outcome in Arizona and told then-Vice President Mike Pence that he could reject Democratic electors in the counting of electoral votes in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

Associated Press writers Jacques Billeaud and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix and Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Washington, Dec. 15, 2023. Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes says Giuliani has been served an indictment in the state’s fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Mayes posted the news regarding the Trump-aligned lawyer on her X account late Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)