Irish rider Liam O'Brien (Lidl Trek) has started strongly at Giro di Sardegna (2.1) after an opening stage that saw the gaps open as the pressure was applied on the climbs.
However, the young Corkman came through that tricky test to ensure his very real hopes of a general classification result on this race are in good shape.
Though a breakaway forged clear today and contained one of the favourites, Filippo Zana (Soudal Quick-Step), O'Brien was among the next group on the road. He was the only Lidl Trek rider in that small group and now appears to have cemented his position as a leader for the days ahead.
The opening stage - some 190km from Castelsardo to Bosa - featured just three categorised climbs, which were cat 2 and cat 3. However, the terrain was undulating from start to finish, making for almost 3,000m of elevation gain, which ensured the field was shredded.
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A five-man breakaway group got clear midway through the stage, with Zana going across to the group solo with about 50km to go.
He soon dropped all of the early escapees, though was caught by Nicolò Garibbo (Team UKYO), Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step) and Urko Berrade (Equipo Kern Pharma).
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They made it to the finish with 53 seconds in hand on the next group on the road, which was the remains of the bunch numbering fewer than 30 riders.
Surprisingly, Garibbo won the stage for his UCI Continental team, with Zana 2nd, Berrade 3rd and Garofoli 4th. Giacomo Ballabio (Team Vorarlberg) won the ‘bunch’ sprint for 4th place, with O'Brien in that 27-rider group and finishing in 19th place.
The 20-year-old Irish climber already looks like one of the strongest riders in the race and he will hope to test himself on the hilly terrain to come over the next four days, with a stage and general classification result well within his grasp.
A wonderful win! ?
Nicolò Garibbo picks up a huge victory on the opening stage of the Giro di Sardegna! ?♂️ pic.twitter.com/gSDhAf1N7w
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) February 25, 2026
