What 1st step of Tour of Italy ! If Jhonatan Narvaez (INEOS Grenadiers) obviously impressed his world by managing to follow Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), then winning the sprint, Maximilian Schachmann also put in a great performance, taking 2nd place of the day. Having anticipated the battle on the last ascent, the German from BORA-hansgrohe managed to topple over the top of the Bivio di San Vito a few seconds from the Slovenian and the Ecuadorian. Then, with a great effort, he managed to return to the descent. The victory therefore came down to a sprint between these three men… and Schachmann finally failed a few centimeters from Narvaez.
Maximilian Schachmann at the finish of this 1st stage
“The penultimate climb wasn’t that fast…”
On arrival, the German was torn between satisfaction and disappointment. “The penultimate climb wasn’t that fast, so I thought UAE Team Emirates didn’t want the Pink jersey today”declares Schachmann. “That’s why I attacked, I took my chance. We were a small group, but with the issue of the 1st stage and the Pink jersey, no one wanted to collaborate, it was a mess. But I knew that starting the last climb 10 seconds ahead could help and that was the case. I did the descent hard to come back, and it was very difficult and unfortunately. I did not win.”
