[ad_1]
Geraint Thomas claimed fourth place in the Giro d’Italia opening day time trial, 26 seconds ahead of British rival Simon Yates.
The stage was won by Filippo Ganna, Thomas’s teammate at the Ineos Grenadiers, who also won the world time trial championship last Friday.
Yates, 28, was in 17th place, nearly a minute behind Ganna’s winning time of 15 minutes 24 seconds.
The 15.1 km race was marred by an accident involving Miguel Ángel López de Astana.
López was taken to the hospital by ambulance after crashing into the barrier at the 9.4 km time control when he momentarily removed a hand from the bars of his bike.
His front wheel hit a pothole in the asphalt, which sent the bike to his right, through a steel barrier and into members of the crowd near downtown Palermo.
“Miguel Ángel has been taken to the hospital for further observation. We will update him as soon as we know more,” said a statement from the team on Twitter.
The Colombian automatically abandons the race because he did not reach the goal of the stage.
What happened to the British?
Thomas, 34, will be happy with the gap he has with his rivals who are in contention to win the general classification of the three-week race in Italy.
The only other overall standings challenger close to his time was Mitchelton-Scott’s Yates, who is expected to lose time with Thomas in all three time trials of the race, before bouncing back with strong runs during the mountain stages.
“I definitely emptied the tank. I can be pretty happy with how it came out,” Welshman Thomas said on Twitter.
Many of the contenders had bad times loading largely downhill from Monreale, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, towards Palermo.
Jumbo-Visma’s Steven Kruijswijk, Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang and TrekSegafredo’s two-time winner Vincenzo Nibali, starting the race at home in Sicily, were more than a minute behind Thomas.
It is the second time in a week that Ganna has been imperious on a field of the world’s best time trialists in his native Italy, having won the world’s rainbow road jersey in Emilia Romagna.
Ganna, 24, will wear the race leader’s pink jersey (pink jersey) during Sunday’s 149-kilometer stage to Agrigento in Sicily.
Meanwhile, young Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel made his first trip away from home on Saturday since a horrific accident in which he suffered multiple injuries, including a broken pelvis.
The 20-year-old Deceuninck-Quick Step rider crashed at the end of a descent during the Il Lombardia one-day race in August, falling off a bridge and into a wooded ravine.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am today after my first time outdoors in almost two months,” he said.
“I took this step only after talking to the team’s doctors and it turned out that I came back on the day that I should have been in Palermo for the start of the Giro d’Italia. It’s a great morale boost.”
Result of stage 1 and general classification
1. Filippo Ganna (Ita / Ineos Grenadiers) 15 minutes 24 seconds
2. João Almeida (By / Deceuninck-Quick Step) + 22 seconds
Mikkel Bjerg (Den / UAE-Team Emirates) at the same time
4. Geraint Thomas (GB / Ineo Grenadiers) + 23 seconds
5. Tobias Foss (Nor / Jumbo-Visma) + 31 seconds
6. Josef Cerny (Cze / CCC) + 36 seconds
7. Matteo Sobrero (Ita / NTT Pro cycling) + 40secs
8. Lawson Craddock (US / EF Pro Cycling) + 41 seconds
9. Miles Scotson (Aus / Groupama-FDJ) + 42 seconds
10. Matthias Brandle (Aus / Israel Start Up Nation) at the same time
Others
17. Simon Yates (GB / Michelton-Scott) + 49 seconds
[ad_2]
