GB's Tarling wins first Grand Tour stage at Giro
The Giro moves on from Albania to Italy following Monday's rest day
Britain's Josh Tarling claimed his first Grand Tour stage win with victory in the time trial on stage two of the Giro d'Italia.
Ineos Grenadiers rider Tarling, 21, beat Slovenia's Primoz Roglic by one second over the 13.7km course in Albania's capital city Tirana.
Roglic did just enough to take the leader's pink jersey off stage-one winner Mads Pedersen and now leads the Dane by one second in the general classification.
Australia's Jay Vine finished third on the stage, three seconds back on Tarling.
It is Welshman Tarling's third victory at the World Tour level, following time trial wins at the 2023 Renewi Tour and this year's UAE Tour.
Pedersen wins Giro opener as Landa fractures back
Pedersen wins Giro opener as Landa fractures back
The Giro d'Italia's race for pink is anyone's guess
The Giro d'Italia's race for pink is anyone's guess
Time trial specialist Tarling completed the course in 16 minutes seven seconds then faced an agonising wait for 58 riders, including other stage favourites and overall contenders, to finish.
"I can't believe it, I'm so happy," said Tarling.
"The wait was not nice, I don't want to do it again, it was a long day for 13km."
Tarling is now the youngest winner of a time trial in Giro history and has a chance for another time trial victory on stage 10 on 20 May.
Britain's Ethan Hayter finished ninth on the stage, 14 seconds back on Tarling.
Though he missed out on the stage win, 2023 Giro champion Roglic, 35, gained time over his rivals for the title.
Spain's Juan Ayuso is now 16 seconds down on Roglic, with Italy's Antonio Tiberi nine seconds further back.
British twins Simon and Adam Yates, Ecuador's Richard Carapaz and Colombia's Egan Bernal are all over 30 seconds down on Roglic but there is plenty of climbing to come in the three-week stage race.
Pedersen went out last and almost held on to the leader's jersey, missing out by two seconds as he finished seventh, 11 seconds back on Roglic.
A hilly 160km route on Sunday's stage three, starting and finishing in Vlore, marks the end of the race in Albania before it moves to Italy following Monday's rest day.
Stage two results
Josh Tarling (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) 16mins 07secs
Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1sec
Jay Vine (Aus/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +3secs
Edoardo Affini (Ita/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +6secs
Mathias Vacek (Cze/Lidl-Trek) Same time
Daan Hoole (Ned/Lidl-Trek) +8secs
Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) +12secs
Brandon McNulty (US/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +13secs
Ethan Hayter (GB/Soudal Quick-Step) +14secs
Juan Ayoso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +17secs
General classification after stage two
Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 3hrs 52mins 32secs
Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) +1sec
Mathias Vacek (Cze/Lidl-Trek) +5secs
Brandon McNulty (US/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +12secs
Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +16secs
Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +17secs
Max Poole (GB/Team Picnic PostNL) +24secs
Antonio Tiberi (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) +25secs
Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro-cycling Team) +27secs
Giulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +31secs