Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) tightened his grip on the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia on Friday, winning stage seven's time trial and taking time on all of his rivals.
The Slovenian started the day with a 46-second buffer at the top of the general classification, and now leads the race by two minutes and 36 seconds to Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) in second.
Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), tenth on the day, slipped to third in the GC. "It is what it is," the Brit said afterwards. "It's just one of those days."
For Pogačar, the race marked his first on his TT bike since last August's World Championships. "It was a lot of preparation for this," he said, "a lot of ups and downs since the time trial last year. I’m super-happy that today I felt good.
"I started a bit with an easier pace. I had to get used to the TT bike, and then I paced myself to the climb and did the climb full gas."
Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) sat in the hot seat for most of the afternoon, having clocked 52 minutes and one second over the 40.6km course between Foligno and Perugia. On the final climb, though, Pogačar took back over a minute on the Italian, bettering him by 17 seconds over the line.
How it happened
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Stage seven's time trial course brought the longest at the Giro d’Italia in nine years. At 40.6km, the route was split into two distinct parts – an initial 32km flat section, before an uphill drag to the line, with ramps at 16%.
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Double world time trial champion Ganna set out early in the day, and despite clipping a spectator’s arm on a corner, clocked the fastest time over the two intermediate checks, travelling at over 52.5km/h.
At the foot of climb, the Italian looked in supreme form. He tagged Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor Pro Cycling), the rider who started five minutes before him, and went on to catch Luka Mezgec (Jayco AlUla), who started nine minutes ahead, to begin a long spell in the hot seat.
Strong times followed for Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers), who were the first to get within a minute of Ganna's benchmark. The Italian's team-mate, Thymen Arensman, then followed suit, setting up a provisional Ineos Grenadiers 1-2-3.
The tension, in the mean time, built around how Thomas and Pogačar would fare. As the afternoon drew on, the winds picked up, leaving the toughest conditions for the GC contenders. The pink-jersey-wearer, characteristically, relished the challenge.
The stage win looked like it would elude Pogačar, initially. On the flat, his times were slower than Ganna had gone, but, crucially, he was faster than Thomas, his nearest rival in the overall standings. An eight-second advantage at the first time check turned into 40 seconds at the second, and his hold on the pink jersey turned vice-like.
On the final climb, the UAE Team Emirates rider then turned the screw. "Piano," slow down, Ganna said, as he watched on a small screen. Pogačar, of course, would not. He ended up pipping the Italian by 17 seconds, and Thomas by two minutes exactly.
The Slovenian now takes a comfortable lead into Saturday's ninth stage, a summit finish on the Prati di Tivo.
