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Sunday, May 7, 2023
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2022 Tour de France | 2022 Giro d'Italia
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Current racing:
- May 6 - 29: Giro d'Italia
- May 7: Tro-Bro Léon
Upcoming racing:
- May 16 - 21: 4 Jours du Dunkerque
Latest completed racing:
- May 6: GP du Morbihan
- May 1: Eschborn-Frankfurt
- April 25 - 30: Tour de Romandie
- April 28 - 30: Vuelta Asturias
- April 23: Liege-Bastogne-Liege
- April 17 - 21: Tour of the Alps
- April 19: La Fleche Wallone
We posted the report from stage winner Remco Evenepoel's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Filippo Ganna's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
The INEOS Grenadiers placed three riders in the top 10 after a strong start to the Giro d'Italia.
The opening time trial played out at a rapid pace, with Filippo Ganna setting the second fastest time in Ortona. The Italian champion came home 22 seconds back on stage victor Remco Evenepoel.
Filippo Ganna riding to second place. Sirotti photo
Tao Geoghegan Hart put in a superb performance to set the fourth best time across the 19.6-kilometre course. The Brit, winner of the race in 2020, sits 40 seconds back after a strong ride and a brief stint in the hot seat.
Geraint Thomas took ninth on the day (+55secs) after admitting he had pushed hard on the flat opening part of the course.
Pavel Sivakov (19th) and Laurens De Plus (28th) both clocked times inside the top 30 on a strong day for the team collectively. The action continues on Sunday with stage two and a chance for the sprinters to battle it out.
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Third-place Joao Almeida's UAE Team Emirates posted this:
UAE Team Emirates got off to a flying start on day 1 of the Giro d’Italia, placing three riders in the top-10, with Joao Almeida the best-placed in third place at 29’’ from the winner.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quickstep) clocked the fasted time of 21’18’’ and becomes the first Maglia Rosa of the race with Almeida pushing a blistering pace of 54kmph on the mostly flat course from Fossacesia Marina to Ortona (19.6km).
Almeida: “I know my own abilities but I was a bit surprised by the time I did. But it just confirms the good work that the team has been doing so we are pretty happy with it. It’s important to start on the right foot and then let the race flow so I think we are in a pretty good position.”
Jay Vine also held the hot seat for some time, with the Australian champion eventually finishing 7th among an elite time-trialling field.
Brandon McNulty put in a fast ride particularly on the final kick to the line, securing the fastest time on the final sector and climbing the podium to put on the blue jersey.
Brandon McNulty riding to 8th place. Sirotti photo
McNulty: “It was really good , I had strong legs and to take a top-10 is quite nice. It was a bit surprising to take the blue jersey so it’s great to take a leaders jersey into tomorrow. We’ve put quite a bit of effort into the time trialling this year so it’s nice to see all the work paying off.”
Tomorrow the Giro continues with stage 2 from Teramo to San Salvo (202km) which is set to end in a sprint.
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Here’s the Giro d'Italia report from 5th-place Stefan Küng’s Team Groupama-FDJ
The 106th “Corsa Rosa” is now underway. On the Abruzzo coast this Saturday, it all started with a time trial of nearly twenty kilometres. Among the favorites for the day, Stefan Küng, just like the rest of the field, was unable to compete with Remco Evenepoel in this opening act, but he still secured a solid top-5 at the finish. With his French champion jersey, Bruno Armirail (11th) missed the top-10 for just two seconds. The race is on for three weeks!
Remco Evenepoel was unbeatable today. Sirotti photo
The 2023 Grand Tours season began this Saturday, May 6, on the Italian coast, between Fossacesia Marina and Ortona. The first pink jersey battle was set to take place on a circuit almost entirely designed by the sea. 19,6 kilometres made up the opening individual time trial, with 16,5 flat kilometres before a climb of 1200 meters averaging 5% then a last drag to the finish line. The Groupama-FDJ team was fully committed on this first day of racing. “We approached this time trial in a very serious and focused way”, explained Julien Pinot. “Three riders especially had to do it at 100%: Bruno, Thibaut and Stefan. We did good recons, all the equipment was excellent, and the effort plan was adjusted to everyone in order to aim for the best possible performance”.
Before the trio set off, Fabian Lienhard, Ignatas Konovalovas, Jake Stewart, Lars van den Berg and Rudy Molard completed the course one after the other in just over twenty-four minutes. Bruno Armirail showed up on the ramp at 3:52 p.m., and was immediately up to speed. The French time trial champion took second in the first and second intermediate points, before slipping into provisional third place at the finish. “I think I did a good time trial until the bottom of the climb, but the climb was still quite hard after having done the rest full-gas,” he said. “I struggled a bit on the final climb, but the legs are still alright, which bodes well for the rest of the race”.
With a time of 22’15, the Frenchman was completely reassured, then Thibaut Pinot completed his ride in 23 minutes and one second. “It was very hard, and it went very very fast”, said the climber from Melisey. “It was made for powerful riders, you had to push the big gear. It’s always hard for me when there’s a time trial on the first day, but I’m very happy that this Giro has finally started, and I hope to have good legs in the mountains later on to do something”. Last member of the team on the course, and obviously the best card, Stefan Küng started between Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic and Filippo Ganna.
Although the Swiss rider was able to get closer to the previous best marks, he could not however keep up with the Belgian prodigy, who left no chance for the competition on Saturday. The latter set a time of 21’18, twenty-two seconds ahead of his runner-up Ganna, and forty-three seconds ahead of Stefan Küng, who finally took fifth in this opening day. “I tried to prepare myself properly for this Giro after the Classics”, commented Stefan at the finish. “I did my best today, but Remco showed his strength on a course that suited him very well. I couldn’t have an impact on the stage victory fight. I had two or three issues during my preparation, but that’s not what makes me lose all those seconds. Next Sunday, the course of the second time trial will suit me better. It’s another opportunity, and until then, there are also plenty of stages. Anyway, the Giro is launched”.
Groupama-FDJ therefore completed this opening stage with a fifth place for its former double European champion, and an eleventh position for Bruno Armirail. “For Stefan, the goal was to win against a world championship-kind of field,” added Julien Pinot. “Over the last 3-4 years, he sometimes beat them, and they sometimes beat him. Today, Evenepoel showed a very high level, and he was hard to beat even with a Stefan in top form. The fact that Evenepoel dominated so much the time trial makes us a bit less disappointed. We were obviously aiming for better than fifth place, but it’s still a promising effort. There was a big competition, and there is still a good chance for Stefan in nine days. The preparation for the Giro was also a race against the clock for him after Roubaix. He was going well, but you had to be 100% to just be on the podium.
As for Bruno, he achieved an excellent performance. He is a bit frustrated not to enter the top-10 (11th for 2 seconds, editor’s note) and is not that far from the top-5 either. It’s a strong time trial for him, which bodes well for a good Giro, where he will have an important role for our leaders. As for Thibaut, he set a decent time, even a little better than some he has done over the past two or three seasons. For the GC, Almeida, Geoghegan Hart and Roglic also took a gap, but we knew we were going to lose time on the first two time trials. On the other hand, he is closer to other climbers like Caruso, Uran, Arensman or Haig”.
After this first fight between time trialists and overall contenders, the sprinters are expected on Sunday in San Salvo, after 202 kilometres.
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And here’s the Giro stage one report from Primoz Roglic’s Team Jumbo-Visma:
Primoz Roglic has finished sixth in the opening time trial of the Giro d'Italia. The rider of Team Jumbo-Visma rode a solid race against the clock, but Remco Evenepoel beat him by 43 seconds. His time of 22:01 was enough to keep him close to the other GC riders.
Primoz Roglic put in a solid ride. Sirotti photo.
"The legs felt good; I'm happy with that", a relatively satisfied Roglic said. The 33-year-old leader also saw his teammates put in a solid time trial. Roglic is confident about his form. "I rode as fast as I could, and after today, I am optimistic. There are still 20 stages to go."
"Of course, you want to finish ahead of your rivals", said Roglic, referring to his gap to Evenepoel. "But this is a solid result. I'm not three minutes down. Evenepoel was faster today. Ultimately, it's all about who's on top after 21 days, and I don't think I could have gone faster."
A remarkable story is that of Tom Gloag. The 21-year-old British rider was a last-minute replacement for the injured Jan Tratnik. Gloag had a hectic day. "I had turned my phone off for a four-hour training session. When I came back, I had a lot of missed calls. I called sports director Grischa Niermann, who told me to come to Italy. I started packing my bags and arrived at the hotel around 3am."
"I am really looking forward to the next few weeks, but at the same time, I feel sorry for Jan", Gloag continued. "He was an important helper for Primoz. But I’m in good shape."
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