Tadej Pogačar takes huge lead at Giro as Geraint Thomas suffers in TT | Video

Already in the race leader's maglia rosa, Tadej Pogačar stamped his authority on the race today with big gains on his general classification rivals (Photo by Marco Alpozzi-Lapresse)

With just one week completed in the Giro d'Italia the remainder of the general classification battle is shaping up as a dead rubber clash, barring incident, as race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has significantly stretched his advantage in today's TT.

The Slovenian, who came into the race as the hottest of favourites for years, today put two minutes into last year's runner-up Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers). The Welshman, who is a noted TT rider, really disappointed today, finishing back in 10th place.

Not only did Thomas lose time to Pogačar, but he also ceded 2nd place overall to Daniel Martínez (Bora-hansgrohe), though the gap between them in 2nd and 3rd is just 10 seconds. Thomas also lost one minute to his own team mate, Thymen Arensman, while also losing 39 seconds to Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) and 55 seconds to Max Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe).

Advertisement

Out on the 40.6km TT course today - from Foligno to Perugia - Pogačar trailed longtime stage leader Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) by 44 seconds when he hit the cat 4 climb to the finish line. And by the time he crossed the line, he had converted that to a 17-second advantage to win the stage from Ganna.

Italian champion, and former world champion, Ganna put in a great effort but had to be content with 2nd place on the day (Photo by Fabio Ferrari-LaPresse)

Magnus Sheffield, the 22-year-old American riding for Ineos Grenadiers, put in one of the performances of the day to claim 3rd at 49 seconds, followed by team mate Arensman at 1:00.

The stage result - and Pogačar's awesome finish today - now means the race leader has a 2:36 advantage over 2nd placed Martinez, with Thomas 3rd at 2:46. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) is up seven places to 4th - and now looks like he can do a podium rider - at 3:33.

Related News

After the withdrawal of Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) from the race after his unfortunate stage 2 crash, Ryan Mullen is the only Irish rider remaining. The Irish TT champion, Bora-hansgrohe's Mullen was 36th today, at 4:08.

However, while he is a noted tester, the final climb today would not have suited him and he is also on this Giro with the intention of assisting Danny van Poppel in the sprints as they search for a stage win.

Related News