Saturday May 4, 2024 at 6:58 PM
He almost couldn’t lose, but it happened anyway. Tadej Pogacar was the obvious favorite to take the opening stage and the first pink jersey in the Giro d’Italia 2024, but collided with a particularly strong Jhonatan Narváez. “All in all I can be satisfied,” Pogacar said through the channels of his UAE Emirates team.
“It was a short stage and a fast first day of this Giro,” the top favorite for the overall victory looks back on the first 140 kilometers of the Tour of Italy. “We tried to control the stage, but it wasn’t our day. I do believe that we still did well, especially for such a first day in a long Grand Tour. These are always those 50/50 days. Some riders have a difficult time, other riders even more difficult.”
“You also see that in our team,” continues the Slovenian. “It’s a shame that I had to attack from too far on the last climb, although I must admit that Narváez was very strong. He turned out to be able to follow my wheel. The difference with the group in front of us was big and I had to do everything I could to close this gap. The fact that I managed to release all the classification men is a good sign.”
“Once we reached the top of the climb, I knew that Narváez would be difficult to release. It has also been a while since I had to sprint against two riders. I started too early, but Narváez was just faster. I didn’t have much of a chance, but I can look back on a good effort,” said Pogacar, who ultimately had to acknowledge his superiority in Maximilian Schachmann.
To recover
So the first pink jersey passed him by, but Pogacar also looks at the bigger picture. “All in all I can be satisfied. Every day will go a little better. Sunday’s stage to Oropa suits our qualities better, although we first have to see how we recover after this tough first day.”
