Tom Dumoulin wins Giro d'Italia 2016 stage one time trial
Tom Dumoulin gives a crowd-pleasing performance as the 2016 Giro d'Italia kicked off in the Netherlands with a 9.8km time trial
- Photos by Graham Watson
Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) gave the home crowds a perfect start to the 2016 Giro d'Italia by winning the opening time trial in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
Dumoulin took the victory by just a fraction of a second ahead of surprise top finisher Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), making his Grand Tour debut. The pair both clocked just 11 minutes and three seconds to complete the pan-flat 9.8-kilometre course.
Andrey Amador (Movistar) placed third at six seconds. Pre-stage favourite Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) placed eighth having suffered from a stomach illness mid-week.
The Swiss rider's dream of wearing the maglia rosa of race leader may now never be realised if his expected retirement at the end of 2016 materialises.
No opening stage win for Fabian Cancellara, and no pink jersey
(Image credit: Graham Watson)
Dumoulin's Giant-Alpecin team-mate Tobias Ludvigsson put down the early marker. Rider after rider of the 198 starters came through and did not better the Swede, and in the end he finished a creditable fourth.
Dumoulin now goes into stage two in the overall race lead. The stage is the second of three in the Netherlands, running from Arnhem to Nijmegen. It is widely expected to end in a bunch sprint.
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Tom Dumoulin in the pink jersey of race leader
(Image credit: Watson)
Speaking after the stage, Dumoulin also revealed that he has been suffering with a stomach illness: "I’m a very lucky man today. I realise how narrowly I’ve won by. It was a lot of suffering, especially at the end of the course. I’m actually feeling sick with a stomach bug but I’m also so, so happy," he said.
"The effort I made at the Tour de Romandie to prepare for this time trial has paid off. I didn’t do my best time trial today but also not my worst one. I would have liked to go a bit faster but only the result counts and winning here in the Netherlands is so special."
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was the best of the other general classification favourites, placing 16th at 19 seconds. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was 23rd at 24 seconds, Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-QuickStep) 43rd at 33 seconds and Mikel Landa (Sky) 67th at 40 seconds.
Mikel Landa lost significant seconds to his GC rivals
