He will have tried everything in the finale of this first stage of the Tour of Italy. Tadej Pogacar did not manage to overcome all his opponents in the final difficulty of the day, the Bivio di San Vito (1.5km at 8.6%). Especially Jhonatan Narvaez (INEOS Grenadiers), who hung on to the Slovenian’s wheels to finally beat him in a sprint in the streets of Turin. The leader ofUAE Team Emirates and great favorite of Giro will however have launched several offensives on the last ascent, from the foot. He returns to those who had attacked previously and no one is able to follow him except the Ecuadorian and Maximilian Scharmann (BORA-hansgrohe) who returns on the descent to compete in the sprint with the duo. Pogacar therefore does not recover the first pink tunic but takes around ten seconds ahead of the group of favorites, enough to delight him at the microphone of his team.
Tadej Pogacar beaten by Jonathan Narvaez on the 1st stage
“I was also a little nervous”
“It was a short and quick stage, explain Tadej Pogacar. We tried to control the stage but unfortunately it wasn’t our day but we did a good job. It’s the first day, so it’s a bit 50-50 in the peloton: some riders are suffering, and others are feeling good. I think that also in our team, we are taking it step by step. Tomorrow (Sunday) is a stage that suits us even better. We’ll see how the legs are after today’s efforts (Saturday). But I think it’s going to be a good Giro after a good start. On the last climb, Narvaez was super strong. I gave everything and I dropped leaders in the general classification, so it’s a sign that I have good legs. When we got to the top of the last climb, I knew Narvaez would be hard to beat in the sprint. I was also a little nervous, it had been a long time since I had sprinted in a 3-way like that. And I started the sprint too early. I had good legs, but Narvaez is faster than me.”
