1. narváez won the final stage of the Giro d’Italia in the final sprint and wore pink, Pogačar finished 3rd in the final sprint

The opening 140 km long stage of the 107th Giro d’Italia was decided in the final spurt, where Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narváez was the winner. He also beat the number one favourite for the overall victory, Tadei Pogačar.

Tadeje Pogačar’s attack failed

Before the start of this race, Tadej Pogačar proclaimed to the world that it would be quite difficult for his UAE Emirates stable to defend the pink jersey from the very beginning of the race. But today’s opening stage didn’t give much indication of that.

Emirates virtually controlled the entire race and as the stage broke on the final climb to San Vito, a massive attack from the Slovenian cyclist was expected. That’s exactly what happened, but Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narváez stayed on his back and then dominated the final spurt ahead of Maximilian Schachmann and Tadei Pogachar.

Although the Slovenian did not win the stage, he picked up valuable seconds in the opening stage to add to the final classification. For third place in the stage he has 4 bonus seconds and since the group of favourites led by Gerraint Thomas reached the finish with a 10-second gap, the Slovenian has already 14 seconds.

Pogcacar showed just a small demonstration of his strength right from the start. The real hills where the bread will be broken are yet to come. Jan Hirt, who has ambitions to win a mountain stage in this year’s edition, also showed himself in a good light, which he has already done in the past and if everything comes together, he would like to finish in the top 10 of the overall classification.

The Czech cyclist finished today’s stage in 25th place, 20 seconds behind the winner. But his time will also come on the tough hot climbs. After all, another attack by Pogačar is expected tomorrow. Unusually, the Giro has included a 161 km long mountain stage with the finish at the top of Oropa in its itinerary.

Other well-known names and favourites for the podium finish fared even worse. Colombia’s Nairo Quintana and France’s Romain Bardet are already 57 seconds behind after the opening stage.

Giro d’Italia – Stage 1 (Venaria Reale – Turin, 140 km)

• 1. Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos) 3:14:23, 2. Maximilian Schachman (Bora), 3. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates) – same time, 4. Alex Baudin (Decathlon), 5. Nicola Conci (Alpecin), … 25. Jan Hirt (Quick – Step), 171. Josef Černý (Quick – Step)

Source: CyclingNews, Giro d’Italia