The first stage of the Giro is all under the sign of tulips, which kicked off in the Netherlands with the mini-time trial in Appeldoorn and which immediately dressed Tom Dumoulin in pink, the best expression of cycling in the Netherlands today. Dumoulin was one of the great favorites to wear the symbol of supremacy and he hit it, but by a hair's breadth equal to a hundredth of a second on Primoz Roglic, an almost unknown Slovenian who conquered the first ray of fame yesterday by spinning in the 9,8 km of the course at over 53,213 km per hour, practically on a par with Dumoulin, the true specialist in time trial races. The first to celebrate Dumoulin was none other than Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand van Oranje-Nassau, i.e. the king of Holland, who followed him on the Giant flagship during his performance. Off the podium, only eighth at 14” from Dumoulin, Fabian Cancellara, the other big favorite of the eve, was in any case great, as always, entering the contention and braving the fever that hit him right on the eve of the Giro. For the Swiss champion, in his last racing season, the dream of wearing the pink jersey, at least for one day, fades after having collected so many yellow jerseys. The Costa Rican Andrey Amador was third on the podium, while the Swede Tobias Ludvigsson, Dumoulin's teammate, was fourth. Fifth, in great shape, Marcel Kittel is back, awaited today as one of the probable winners of the second stage, still in the Netherlands, 190 km completely flat but with unknown winds. Behind the German in the time trial was the first of the Italians, Moreno Moser, sixth 12” behind the winner.
Said of the stage, in terms of standings – provided that Dumoulin does not turn out to have improved even uphill – it was Vincenzo Nibali who gained precious seconds, finishing 16th at 19" from the Dutchman, distanced Alejandro Valverde by 5" and Mikel Landa by 21 ”, the two most popular riders as his rivals for the final victory. The Giro is long but the Shark has already given an important signal.
