James Shaw laughs off viral Giro bottle mishap - 'Obviously not my finest hour'

During the early, calmer part of stage 1 in Bulgaria, television cameras caught the EF Education-EasyPost rider missing three consecutive bottle handoffs. The moment quickly travelled across cycling social media, helped along by EF themselves, who joined in with the jokes afterwards.

By the time Shaw arrived at the start of stage 2, he had clearly seen the footage more than once.

“Lots of people have sent me the video of me dropping the bottles, which was obviously not my finest hour,” Shaw told TNT Sports.

The British rider was able to laugh about it, adding another line at his own expense. “I don’t know what was worse, that or the fact they said I was from Derby.”

Behind the humour, however, Shaw was more interested in what Saturday’s stage could offer. 

After the largely controlled opener into Burgas, stage 2 brings a more complicated finale around Veliko Tarnovo, with repeated climbs, uphill drags and technical sections likely to make the racing less predictable.

For EF Education-EasyPost, that could open the door to something more aggressive.

“Opportunities don’t come every day, and you’ve got to take them when you can, notice them when they’re there,” Shaw said. “There are a few riders hoping to have their moment but for sure we’re going to try and upset the apple cart a little bit.”

The weather could also play a role. With rain expected near the finish, Shaw believes the peloton may be less willing to take unnecessary risks so early in the race, particularly after the crash that disrupted the stage 1 sprint.

“We’re told it’s wet at the finish, so I don’t think they’re going to want to take risks on day two, which favours the breakaway,” he said, offering a small hint at his plans for the day.