Geraint Thomas Makes Dream Start As Giro d’Italia Rivals Feel A Chill Wind

Geraint Thomas opened up an immediate advantage on his Giro d’Italia rivals as his Ineos Grenadiers outfit enjoyed a dream double.

Wales’ 2018 Tour de France champ finished fourth fastest on the opening 15.1km time trial won by team-mate Filippo Ganna.

But Thomas took time out of all his maglia rosa rivals on the windy blast from Monreale to Palermo in Sicily.

“It was windy but I think I was comfortable on the bike,” said Thomas, who has two more TTs to take further time out of his rivals.

Geraint Thomas happy after opening stage of Giro d’Italia

.”Maybe I was just a little too aggressive at the start and in the last two kilometres I lost the legs a little bit.

“Maybe just a little too much in the first half but we can still be pretty happy.

“But I definitely emptied the tank.

“I was steady on the corners as I’d seen a few guys had crashed. There were definitely no risks. I can still be pretty happy with how it went.”

Thomas completed the course in 15 mins 47 secs as Ganna – the newly crowned world TT champ – won the opening stage in 15.24.

But Thomas took 25 secs out of Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) who beat him into second place at last month’s Tirreno-Adriatico.

Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) and Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) each lost 1:05 while Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) conceded 1:16 and Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) gave up 1:21 on Thomas.

Filippo Ganna, wearing rainbow colours of world champ, stormed to victory in time trial.

Ganna said: “I’m really happy. This jersey is fantastic for me, and my team will also be happy. I say a big thank you to them, for all the support to arrive in pink at the Giro.

Stage One Top 10 and Overall Standings

1. Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers, in 15-24
2. João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck – Quick-Step, at 22 seconds
3. Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates, at same time
4. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 23 seconds
5. Tobias Foss (Nor) Jumbo-Visma, at 31 seconds
6. Josef Černý (Cze) CCC Team, at 36 seconds
7. Matteo Sobrero (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling, at 40 seconds
8. Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Pro Cycling, at 41 seconds
9. Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ, at 42 seconds
10. Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation, at same time

General Classification