Roglic takes the pink jersey on Giro’s opening stage

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) lived up to pre-race expectations, taking the stage win on the Giro’s opening time trial through the crowd-lined streets of Bologna. He goes into the second stage with a 19-second buffer over nearest rival Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).

Roglic set the fastest time early in the day, and had a long and nervous wait for Yates, who opted to start late on the start list.

“We are waiting three hours for this, and five years ago, this was unimaginable,” said Roglic, the first pink jersey-wearer of the race. “We did a perfect job today, and we are super-happy.”

The stage was set through the historic city of Bologna, and while spanning only eight kilometers, concluded atop the 2.1km climb to the Santuario di San Luca. The climb, used as the finale of the Giro della Emilia, averages 9.7 percent but includes a vicious S-bend midway that hits gradients approaching 20 percent. Though the option was there to take a bike swap at the bottom of the climb, many of the main contenders opted to take it all in their TT rig, with the time that could be lost in the swap-over being too crucial over such a short test.

As reigning champion, Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) went off first, having opted to start early due to the threat of thunderstorms in the evening. Like nearly all the A-Star favorites bar Yates, the Dutchman had opted for the safety of the early start and its blue skies rather than risk waiting until the traditional last place on the start sheet. He came in with a time of 13:22.

“I was completely on the limit,” he said soon after crossing the line. “I think I paced myself pretty well. I don’t know what it’s worth against the others. It was a solid ride I think.”

Although there was some expectation for Dumoulin to hold the fastest time for some while, his position in the hot seat was threatened before he could even sit down, with Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) – second rider to start – finishing on the same time. The next big surprise of the day came very shortly afterward, when Vicenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), fourth out of the blocks, came in at a time of 13:17; 5 seconds faster than Dumoulin and Lopez.

“It’s a hard time trial. I know the course well and knew there could be some [time] differences,” Nibali said shortly after his result. “I am satisfied. The idea today was not to make a mistake and not lose too much time to the specialists.”

Roglic was next across the finish line, and expectations were high, with the pre-race favorite having powered to victory in every stage race he has entered so far this year. He took the virtual lead with a time of 12:54, giving him a staggering margin of 23 seconds over then second-place Nibali, and 28 seconds over Dumoulin.

A host of other GC men went off in the opening hour with Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Ineos), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Seagfredo), Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) all finding themselves in the top 10 in the early stages of the day.

Outside threats Mikel Landa (Movistar) and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) both struggled, posting times over a minute back on Roglic.

Among the later starters on the day were TT specialists Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Soudal), Jos Van Emden (Jumbo-Visma), and Luke Durbridge (Mitchelton-Scott). Van Emden could only manage 14:00, over a minute back on Roglic, while Durbridge also struggled, finishing on 13:52. Recently-crowned world hour record holder Campanaerts posted a time that placed him 20th at the end of the day.

Simon Yates went off as the sun was setting, third from last man off the ramp. The forecast storms were absent. As the 2018 Vuelta a España winner came into the final kilometer, he was looking threatening to Roglic’s position, however, he didn’t have quite enough, finishing in 13:13; second place on the day and 19 seconds down on Roglic, knocking Nibali down to third place on the podium.

“I am really happy with it,” said Roglic soon after completing his effort. “I tried to be focused. I did some recon some hours before the race. There is not a big tactic, it’s not technical, it’s quite honest. It’s full-gas on the climb.”

Stage 2, Sunday, is a stage likely to be one for the sprinters, though made difficult by a number of short climbs through the route.