2023-05-06 17:13:09
Remco Evenepoel, wearing his Belgian time trial champion jersey during this first stage in Italy. JENNIFER LORENZINI / REUTERS
Remco Evenepoel was the fastest in the first stage of this Tour of Italy 2023, a 19.6 kilometer long time trial. Primoz Roglic is already significantly behind.
Impressive, the Belgian Remco Evenepoel took the pink jersey of the leader of the Tour of Italy from the start by winning the first stage, a 19.6 km individual time trial, on Saturday in Ortona.
The 23-year-old world champion beat Italian Filippo Ganna and Portuguese Joao Almeida by 22 and 29 seconds respectively. The other big favorite of the Giro, the Slovenian Primoz Roglic, already concedes 43 seconds to the Belgian phenomenon.
It is the first time in his career that the Flemish from the Soudal-Quick Step team is wearing the pink jersey, he who had abandoned during his first participation in the Giro in 2021.
With this demonstration, Evenepoel, unleashed with his Belgian time trial champion jersey on his back, sends a message to all his competitors. Especially since two other times are still on the program, Sunday May 14 and during the penultimate stage, on the eve of the arrival in Rome in three weeks.
Before the start, he said he wanted to make a difference in this exercise where he excels, he who finished on the podium in the eight lap times he has contested since 2019.
On Saturday, on a flat and straight route drawn on a cycle path, wedged between an abandoned railway line and the beaches of the Adriatic, he made the difference at the start. Very aerodynamic on his bike, he exploded all the times before establishing his supremacy in the small final bump.
This is the 42nd professional victory for the Belgian, recent winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the 10th in an individual time trial. During the last Vuelta in September, he had already dominated Roglic by 48 seconds over 30 km, before winning his first Grand Tour in Madrid. In Italy, he is aiming to become the first reigning world champion to win the Giro since Australian Cadel Evans in 2010.
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