The wet and slippery roads caused multiple crashes in the race, including a major crash in the front part of the main peloton which brought down ten to fifteen riders, including Jonas Vingegaard, Magnus Sheffield, Thomas Pidcock and Victor Campenaerts. as it attempted to navigate through a roundabout with about 25 km to go in the race.
The Danish rider escaped relatively unscathed to snatch the overall leader's jersey from the winner of the first stage, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), as he couldn't keep up on the final climb to Limone Pimonte.
"I went down pretty hard, but it seems like I didn't hurt myself too bad. I have a bit of bruises, but I think because it was so slippery, I was sliding more so I didn't really get any bad road rash or anything."
Ciccone otherwise looked certain to win the stage from a reduced peloton on the 10-kilometre ascent but failed to hold off the charge from Vingegaard.
"To be honest, before the corner, I didn't think that it would be possible to pass him," Vingegaard said. "But then from the corner on, it was a bit longer to the finish than I thought. Luckily I could just pass him."
With the victory, Vingegaard moves into the overall lead, with Ciccone and Ayuso close behind.
Monday’s stage 3 of Vuelta a Espana 2025 will see the riders in the peloton set out on a 206.7-kilometer quest from Susa, in northwestern Italy, to Voiron in southern France.