World champion Filippo Ganna on Saturday produced a flying performance to win the Giro d’Italia’s opening day time-trial in Palermo and claim the 21-day race’s first pink jersey as overall leader.
The 24-year-old Ganna’s Team Ineos captain Geraint Thomas was fourth on the day, completing the tricky 15.1km inner-city course more than a minute faster than most of his pre-race rivals for the overall title.
On his first Grand Tour, former track specialist Ganna — on home soil — was the man to beat after winning the individual world time-trial title a week earlier.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Ganna completed the slightly downhill 15.1km in a furious 15 minutes, 24 seconds, or at an average speed of 58.831kph, just slightly outside the Giro stage speed record set almost 20 years earlier in Pescara by Rik Verbrugghe.
Still wearing his world time-trial winner’s rainbow shirt the 1.93m-tall rider slipped on the Giro leader’s pink jersey presented by the mayor of Palermo.
“Both these jerseys are wonderful, but maybe this one, here today, feels better,” Ganna said with a huge smile.
“Today I knew was one of the hot favorites, but I tried to stay calm. We did it, what a great result and what a thrill to wear the maglia rosa on my first Giro, which is a good omen for the rest of the race.”
Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France champion, went down the ramp earlier than many key rivals and completed his race in less windy conditions.
He entered yesterday’s second stage across the Sicilian valleys 26 seconds ahead of Simon Yates, over a minute faster than Trek-Segafredo’s double Giro champion Vincenzo Nibali, and more than 1 minute, 20 seconds ahead of Steven Kruijswijk of Team Jumbo-Visma and Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang.
“I think I was a bit too aggressive to start as in the last two kilometers I started losing the legs a bit,” Thomas admitted. “I definitely emptied the tank.
A third Ineos rider, Australia’s Rohan Dennis, was also fancied for Saturday’s stage, but finished 26 seconds adrift of Thomas, although the former time-trial specialist might be keeping his powder dry for challenges deeper into the race.
“I’m thinking about 21 stages, not one,” Dennis said.
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