Giro d'Italia 2020, stage one verdict: Geraint Thomas makes strong start as super-fast...

[ASFN Admin]

Geraint Thomas made a strong start to his Giro d’Italia bid, finishing fourth in the opening-day time trial in Sicily to steal a march on his general classification rivals. But there was controversy over the safety of the route itself with Astana’s Miguel Angel Lopez crashing out on a parcours described as “dangerous” by a number of riders and pundits. The 15.1km individual time trial between Monreale and Palermo was always going to be super fast. Apart from a small uphill section at the start, it was pretty much downhill all the way and riders were geared appropriately. Newly-crowned world time trial champion Filippo Ganna raised eyebrows with a 60-tooth chain ring on his shiny gold bike which was rumoured to be worth £25,000. And riders were reporting speeds in excess of 100kph in practice. With the Sirocco, the strong Mediterranean wind, blowing hard from side on, and many of the riders opting for disc wheels, there was always the potential for trouble.

Continue reading...