For Italian cycling, the troubled Giro d'Italia of the Covid era could not have started better than this. The Piedmontese Filippo Ganna, world champion of the specialty, literally dominated the time trial between Monreale and Palermo by winning the first stage of the Giro in a big way and conquering the first pink jersey which finally returns to the shoulders of an Italian rider.
Ganna won at an average of 58,8km/h ahead of Portugal's Almeida and Denmark's Bjerg. Nibali arrived over a minute behind the winner.
“A beautiful result that we hope will bode well for the next twenty days” commented Ganna adding: “Wearing the pink jersey is exciting, it's a lot of stuff, especially in the first Giro d'Italia”.
On the other hand, a bad accident for the Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez, who skidded in the middle of the race and ended up against the barriers: he was immediately transferred to the hospital in Palermo by ambulance.
Tomorrow the Giro crosses the famous Valley of the Temples with the 149 km stage from Alcamo to Agrigento.
