Giro d'Italia #1: Mads Pedersen completes the perfect preparatory work

Cycling: Mads Pedersen won the opening leg of the Giro d'Italia in Albania. The Dane won the sprint after a hard-fought stage ahead of Belgian Wout van Aert. The Tour of Italy is already over for Mikel Landa, who crashed on the final descent of the day and was taken to the hospital.

Pedersen wins in Tirana

The 108th edition of the Giro d'Italia got underway this afternoon in Albania. After 160 kilometers from Durrës to Tirana, Mads pedersen (Lidl – Trek) became the first stage winner of the first Grand Tour of the year. The Dane won the sprint of a heavily depleted peloton ahead of wout van aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) and will therefore start tomorrow in pink. The high pace on the climb to Surrel (7 km at 4,4%), which had to be completed twice, was a decisive factor in the outcome of the stage. The Lidl-Trek team, in particular, was keen to overtake some of the sprinters, which they ultimately succeeded in doing. Even some strong climbers, such as bilbao hair (Bahrain-Victorious), Derek Gee (Israel – Premier Tech) and Thymen Arensmann (Ineos Grenadiers) got into trouble. Even worse was Mikel Landa (Soudal – Quick-Step). The Spaniard crashed on the descent and had to abandon the Giro d'Italia.

Moniquet wins the mountain jersey

Five breakaway riders shaped the race as breakaway riders. However, with the Visma | Lease a Bike team keeping the pace high in the main field, a successful escape was out of the question. Manuel Tarozzi (VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizanè) won the sprint classification, Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché – Wanty) from the leading group. Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis) succeeded in Alessandro Verre (Arkéa – B&B Hotels) and Alessandro Tonelli (Polti VisitMalta) to win the mountain classification. Shortly before the overtaking, Tarozzi secured the first Red Bull KM Sprint and thus gained six seconds – but that didn't mean much. The two mountain classifications in Surrel went to Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) and Julius Ciccone (Lidl – Trek). This means Moniquet will wear the mountain jersey tomorrow.

Individual time trial in Tirana

Tomorrow, the pros will remain in the Albanian capital for the Giro d'Italia. In the 13,7-kilometer individual time trial in Tirana, the first time differences will be established even among the favorites for the overall victory. The top favorite for the stage win is Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers). But also wout van aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) are given good chances.