Tadej Pogacar mainly looked at himself on Saturday after the lost sprint in the first stage of the Giro d’Italia. The top favorite felt that he had started too early and says that nerves were involved.
“I started my sprint from too far,” Pogacar analyzed after he surprisingly had to leave the stage win to the Ecuadorian Jhonatan Narváez. “It had been a long time since I had to sprint with two other riders. I was also a bit nervous.”
Everyone expected an attack from Pogacar on the second climb of the San Vito shortly before the finish and it came. “I did everything I could uphill, but Narváez was very strong and could follow me,” said the Slovenian.
Although Pogacar missed out on the stage win, he immediately put his competitors at a disadvantage for the overall victory. Geraint Thomas, among others, faces a twenty-second deficit after just one day.
“The fact that I was able to release some classification riders today is a positive signal,” the 25-year-old Pogacar was realistic after the first stage. “I can be satisfied. And besides, tomorrow’s stage suits us better.”
The Giro continues on Sunday with a mountain stage that ends at the sanctuary of Oropa. Tom Dumoulin won a stage there in 2017.
