Phenomenal Pogacar explains ‘quiet’ start in time trial: ‘Had to get used to bike’

Pogacar is very happy with his victory, of course. “I hadn’t done a time trial since last year’s world championships, but I’ve been working hard on it since then. I’m glad that paid off today.”

The rosette wearer also has an explanation for his loss of time in the first phase of the time trial. “I started with a slower pace, to get used to the time trial bike,” he explains. “I rode the climb full throttle. It was quite steep, so that was to my advantage. That will be different in the next time trial,” said the Slovenian.

The second and final time trial of this Giro will be held on May 18. At 31 kilometers it is shorter and flatter, so more in Filippo Ganna’s favor.

Tadej Pogacar has also done well in the rankings with his time trial. He now has a lead of 2.36 over number two Daniel Felipe Martinez. Geraint Thomas has fallen to third place (+2.46).

Cian Uijtdebroeks has also dropped in the rankings, from fourth to seventh place.

Ben O’Connor, Luke PLapp, Antoinio Tiberi and Thymen Arensman have all risen significantly. Arensman was still 26th before the time trial, now he occupies eleventh place (+5.09).

General classification

Thymen Arensman did an excellent job today. He finished fourth, 1 minute behind Pogacar, behind his Ineos teammates Filippo Ganna and Magnus Sheffield.

Tadej Pogacar rode up incredibly fast on the final climb. At the foot he was still 47 seconds behind Ganna, at the top he beat the Italian by 17 seconds. The Slovenian climbed the climb 1 minute and 4 seconds faster.

Geraint Thomas will not be satisfied either. The Brit loses no less than 2 minutes on his competitor and drops to third place in the rankings. Daniel Felipe Martinez has surpassed him.

He makes it! Tadej Pogacar wins the time trial! Bizarrely, on the final climb of 6.5 kilometers he makes up more than a minute on Filippo Ganna.

Pogacar rode the second part almost as fast as Ganna: at the second measuring point his deficit was 47 seconds. But can he make up for that in the 6.5 kilometer climb?

Thomas came through at 1.27 from Ganna. So he will lose time on Pogacar, the difference is already 40 seconds.

Ganna can relax a bit in Perugia: Pogacar is no less than 44 seconds slower than the Italian at the first measuring point (after 18 kilometers).

The Slovenian rosette wearer is 8 seconds faster than Thomas. Still 22 kilometers to go, including 6.5 kilometers of climbing.

At the first measuring point, Geraint Thomas, number 2 in the rankings, is 52 seconds slower than leader Ganna. If we know Pogacar’s interim, we can say more about that.

Daniel Felipe Martinez, third in the standings, was 32 seconds slower than the Briton from Ineos after 18 kilometers.

The Ineos team is doing well today. The team occupies the entire podium, although one T. Pogacar still has to finish. Ineos rider Thomas has also not arrived yet.

Top three (151/165 riders finished)

Thymen Arensman does not reach the time of Filippo Ganna, but he did ride a very good time trial.

The Dutchman is 43 seconds slower than his Italian teammate and is currently third. As a result, he will make a big jump in the rankings. We’ll come back to that in a moment, when all the riders are inside.

Cian Uijtdebroeks, leader in the youth classification, has also started his time trial. The Visma Lease-a-Bike rider wears his team’s futuristic time trial helmet and will try to maintain his fourth place in the rankings.

Arensman is still doing excellently. At the second measuring point he is 47 seconds behind Ganna. Arensman, normally a better climber, should be able to make up some ground on his teammate in the last ascending 6.5 kilometers to the finish.

Thymen Arensman and Magnus Sheffield, teammates of Ganna at Ineos, are also on their way.

We are curious about Arensman’s time trial. Can he take back time on his competitors in the rankings?

Top four

Filippo Ganna smashes Bjerg’s fastest time: the Italian is no less than 1 minute and 39 seconds faster than the UAE rider. He completes the time trial in 52.01, with an average of 46.8 kilometers per hour.

Daan Hoole is still fourth, more than 2 minutes behind Ganna.

Phew, that’s where things almost go wrong for Ganna. Just after the start he hits a spectator’s arm. The Italian makes a small swing but remains firmly on his bike. He continues, shaking his head.

Time trial gun Ganna is ready on the starting podium. As a two-time world time trial champion, the Italian from Ineos is one of the favorites to win today. Can he get enough margin on the flat part?

Let’s sit down for a while.

Daan Hoole crosses the line in Perugia. At 54.16 he is almost half a minute faster than Max Walscheid and is the fastest so far.

It remains to be seen how long his time will last, because Edoardo Affini rode the same time as Hoole at the second intermediate point.

The first splits are trickling in. Josef Cerny is the fastest so far at the first passage after more than 18 kilometers. The Czech from Soudal Quick-Step is no less than 36 seconds faster than Ryan Mullen.

We now have to wait for Daan Hoole to come through.

Daan Hoole is also working on his time trial. He starts fast, but in one of the first corners something almost goes wrong. Hoole takes the bend sharply and makes a small slip with his rear wheel. Fortunately, he stays on his bike.

Tobias Lund Andresen is unable to do that a little later. The Dane from DSM-Firmenich-PostNL crashes in exactly the same corner.

Thymen Arensman’s legs were doing well during the reconnaissance, if we are to believe his ride on Strava.

The Dutchman from Ineos set a new best time (KOM) on the final climb of 6.5 kilometers. The average climb of 4.2% took him just over 15 minutes (25.7 kilometers per hour). This made him 3.5 minutes faster than Will Barta of Movistar, who had the second fastest time.

Tadej Pogacar has not (yet) put his exploration on Strava.

Four Dutch people are now busy with their time trial: after Van den Berg, David Dekker, Fabio Jakobsen and Tim van Dijke are also on their way.

We have to wait for the first intermediate times. These are measured after 18.6 kilometers.

We wrote it earlier in this blog: this time trial seems tailor-made for classification leader Tadej Pogacar. But of course the Slovenian has competition.

What about Geraint Thomas, number two in the rankings? The Briton from Ineos is a good time trialist and has 46 seconds to make up for Pogacar.

Filippo Ganna, Thomas’ teammate, is also a contender for the day’s victory. The Italian is a two-time world time trial champion, although he is better on flat courses.

We are also curious about the time trial Thymen Arensman. The Dutchman, also from Ineos, already lost time in the rankings early in this Giro, but yesterday we saw him take the lead on the gravel strips. Arensman is also a decent time trialist, so he may be able to take time back from the competition. Arensman starts at 3:29 p.m.

And what about Daan Hoole? Lidl-Trek’s large motorcycle finished second at the National Time Trial Championships last year and finished seventh at the European Championships. It starts at 1:32 PM.

Let’s look back at yesterday, when the riders rode on the gravel roads of Tuscany. The classification riders wasted little energy, also with a view to today’s time trial. Almost all of them crossed the line unscathed, except Damiano Caruso. The Bahrain-Victorious rider crashed and lost more than fifteen minutes.

Watch the denouement of the sixth stage here:

Sánchez sprints to victory in the sixth Giro stage, his first victory in a Grand Tour

The Giro organization has set up a transition zone for the steep climb. Because the first kilometers of the time trial are flat and there is some climbing afterwards, it may be worthwhile to exchange the time trial bike for a lighter road bike. The question is who will do that, because a substitution also takes time.

The riders must adhere to strict rules, the jury writes. For example, the riders may be pushed forward a maximum of 25 meters.

This year the Giro has two individual time trials, the first of which is on the program today.

The riders start their race against the clock in Foligno. The first 34 kilometers are flat, the last 6.6 kilometers are uphill. The climbing section starts with a steep wall of 1.3 kilometers at an average gradient of 11.8. So spicy.

Even then the road continues to climb. You can also earn mountain points at the finish in Perugia, because the end of the time trial is in the route book as a fourth category climb.

The time trial seems tailor-made for Tadej Pogacar, can he gain more time on his competitors today?