Evenepoel smacks Roglic in face in opening Giro time trial

//Evenepoel smacks Roglic in face in opening Giro time trial

Evenepoel smacks Roglic in face in opening Giro time trial

Daniel Lloyd was right and wrong.

Before Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) rolled down the ramp on stage one of the Giro d’Italia, commentator and former pro Daniel Lloyd said the Belgian would take 20 seconds from his top rival Primoz Roglic.

That prediction was meet with disbelief by the other GNC commentator who felt the gap would be no more than ten seconds. Turns out Lloyd was correct and yet still significant wrong. In the 19.6 kilometer time trial that rolled along the Adriatic coastline, Evenepoel more than doubled that advantage, crossing the line 43 seconds ahead of the Slovenian.

That was a smack-down, a pistol whipping, a physical and physiological stomping of dramatic proportions. In a grand tour where every expert said there were two contenders and then a lot of dark horses, Evenepoel made it clear there’s one boss and everybody else is in for a long, painful ride around Italy.

Evenepoel not only went all MMA on poor Roglic but he also dominated TT specialist and Hour Record Holder Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) on his home soil. Really, is that any way to treat a local?

Widely picked as a likely winner and first man in the pink jersey, Ganna trailed in down 12 seconds on a flat course perfectly suited for to his insanely big thighs. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) rode superbly to come in 3rd, 30 seconds down. Everyone else, down, down, way down.

Former two time world time trial champion Rohan Dennis (INEOD Grenadiers) said after his effort that whoever had the most power over the first 16K would win. Like Daniel Lloyd, he was dead on as Evenepoel clocked the fastest time on the flat bike path section along the sea.

Evenepoel averaged over 55 kph, which is what they call scorching, blistering fast, road-ripping quick. We’re going to have to change his first name from Remco to REVco, the guy is going so fast. In a Giro that’s heavy on chrono kilometers, it’s scary to think how much time he could gain.

Obviously Evenepoel was pleased with his first day out. “I’m super happy. It’s the best result we can get,” said Evenepoel. “I said in the bus that I thought it would be 21:30 to win, and in the end it was 21:18 so I was quite close to my guess. I felt from the start in a good rhythm, always the same gear, same cadence.”

Moving at a slightly slower cadence and pushing a slightly lower wattage was Primoz Roglic. The final result could not have been pleasant for Roglic — but with all his ups and downs in grand tours, he’s mastered the unrealistically cheerful attitude. “Oh, actually good,” he said. “I’m super happy. I’m optimistic for the upcoming days.”

That’s probably not what he said to his wife later that evening but yes, it’s a long way still to ride. “And yeah, still 20 stages to go, eh?” said Roglic. There’s no arguing with that statement. But after day one, hyperbole is easy to come by — as in, there’s one rider that’s head, shoulders and mostly legs above everyone else. As Fillipo Ganna summed it up, “I gave everything I had, I couldn’t have done any more than that. He was very strong.”

Yes, that was abundantly clear.

 

 

 

 

By |2023-05-06T18:44:22-07:00May 6th, 2023|Featured|0 Comments

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