Tadej Pogacar, the No. 1 favorite for the Tour of Italy, was surprised during the sprint of the 1st stage, Saturday in Turin. The Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates was beaten in a three-way sprint by Ecuadorian Jhonatan Narvaez (INEOS Grenadiers) and the German Maximilian Schachmann (BORA-hansgrohe). “I launched too early“, he admitted later.
Pogacar’s team showed their ambition as they showed their vulnerability in the opening stage. The Slovenian found himself without a single teammate in the final, after UAE had started chasing the breakaway. “We tried to control the stage, but it wasn’t our day“, confessed the leader. “There are always riders who struggle a little on the first day of a big tour. We saw it in our team, but we did well overall.“
Not a winner on the line, Tadej Pogacar nevertheless showed himself to be the most impressive on the final climb of the Bivio di San Vito. “I did everything I could on the climb, but Narvaez was very strong and he was able to keep up with me. Then I started the sprint too early. It had been a long time since I had to sprint with two other runners, and I was a little nervous“, declared the Slovenian. From Sunday, a stage with an ideal profile with a summit finish presents itself in front of ‘Pogi’. “The fact that I have already been able to drop a few riders from the general classification is a positive signal. I can be satisfied with it. And tomorrow’s stage suits us better“, he concluded.
