The Dutchman gave the initial blow in his debut in the competition, tried on the pink jersey after the stage in Hungary and was added to the list of contenders to fill the gap created by the lack of great candidates. The 105th edition that began this Friday, May 6 in Budapest and will end on May 29 in Verona, will have a journey through three countries, 22 teams, 176 competitors and where mountain performance will be the decisive factor.
This Friday, May 6, the Giro d’Italia started and already had a great note in the competition after the 27-year-old Dutchman, Mathieu van der Poel, will conquer the first stage in his absolute premiere in this contest and the pink jersey will be tried on, something that also happened in the 2021 Tour de France where he donned the yellow jersey on the opening day.
The Alpecin Fenix team rider surpassed the Eritrean Biniam Girmay in a furious final sprint between the two to settle the winner of the fragment that took place in Hungary, between Budapest and Visegrad.
The end featured the spectacular fall of Australian Caleb Ewan, one of the sprint specialists, just under 100 meters from the finish, which opened the game for the others to duel, but the native of Kapellen was stronger and faster than the African and the Spanish Pello Bilbao.
With a time of 4h3 5m 28s, Van der Poel thus closed his victory in the stage that consisted of 195 kilometers. Tomorrow, Saturday, the 9-kilometre time trial will take place inside the Hungarian capital.
The Giro d’Italia means the return of the great cycling events after the feat of Primoz Roglic in the Tour of Spain that took place in September last year. Seven months later elite competitions are reactivated.
The winner will have to prevail after 3,445.6 kilometers divided into 21 stages to lift the ‘Senza Fine’ trophy of this 105th edition that started in Budapest and will end on May 20 in Verona.
After the start in Hungary, Italy will receive the race from the heights of the mythical Etna volcano, in the fourth stage. In addition, there will also be a step for the first time in Kolovrat, in Slovenia.
It will be an ideal Giro for ‘mountain climbers’, especially in the defining week of the event. With almost 3,500 km climbed, the ability of the climbers will be a differentiating factor in the ‘Corsa Rosa’. Twelve stages have medium and high mountain profiles.
The time trial specialists will have little space to show off: there will only be two stages (the 2nd and the 21st), accumulating a total of only 26 km, the lowest amount since 1962. While the sprinters will be able to exhibit themselves in seven days.
For this edition, 22 teams with eight runners each will participate, adding a total of 176 riders. The teams that will take part will be AG2R Citroën, Astana, Bahrain, Bike Exchange, Bora, Cofidis, DSM, EF Education, Groupama-FDJ, Ineos, Intermarché, Israël PT, Jumbo, Lotto, Movistar, Quick-Step, Trek and UAE ( 1st division); Alpecin, Drone Hopper, Eolo-Kometa and Bardiani (2nd division).
The large number of casualties opens a new range of applicants
One of the most characteristic features that the Giro d’Italia 2022 will have will be the lack of the main candidates, some due to injury and others because they are getting ready for the Tour de France. Without Colombian Egan Bernal, the last champion, recovering from his accident, his compatriot Nairo Quintana, winner in 2014, will not race either.
Meanwhile, the Slovenians Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic, the Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, the British Adam Yates, the Danish Jonas Vingegaard and the Belgians Remco Evenepoel and Wout Van Aert will be absent.
With so many casualties, there are several contenders to compete for the Pink Maglia, with the Ecuadorian and Olympic champion Richard Carapaz (Ineos) as one of the most notorious favorites, especially due to the successful experience he had in the 2019 edition.
“A new goal and a very personal challenge have arrived. Running the Giro with a strong team is very important, I want to do my best and try to win,” said the Ecuadorian last Wednesday.
An interesting edge, but one that generated uncertainty, is the debut in the Giro of the Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel, who is a quadruple world champion in cyclo-cross and a double in the Tour of Flanders. His early victory in the first stage won him shares to establish himself as a candidate.
In addition, the Colombians Iván Ramiro Sosa (Movistar), brand new winner of the Vuelta a Asturias, and Miguel Ángel López (Astana), third in 2018, together with the 23-year-old Portuguese Joao Almeida (UAE Emirates) complete the form to have expectations to win
Others who will seek a place on the podium are the Frenchman Romain Bardet (DSM), who triumphed in the Tour of the Alps, the British Simon Yates (BikeExchange) who has not had the expected performance in the Giro, and the Spanish Mikel Landa, a mountain specialist.
The Latin American legion will be made up of 12 runners. To the aforementioned Carapaz –he will share a team with his compatriot Jonathan Narváez-, López and Sosa are joined by Colombians Harold Tejada (Astana) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious).
Ecuadorian Alexander Cepeda and Argentine Eduardo Sepúlveda will participate on Drone Hopper Androni Giocatolli; Colombian Diego Camargo and Ecuadorian Jonathan Caicedo will do it for EF. Finally, in UAE Emirates will be the Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria and the Argentine Maxi Richeze.
With EFE and media
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