Tom Dumoulin achieved one of his biggest goals of the season by winning the first time trial at the Giro d’Italia on home soil. In a thrilling finale, he beat big surprise Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) by less than a second to take Giant’Alpecin’s first victory of the year and move into the maglia rosa. Andrey Amador (Movistar) completed the podium while Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was the best of the overall favourites.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Tom Dumoulin: I will not give up this jersey without a fight

Tom Dumoulin (NED) won the time trial which opened the Giro d’Italia in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, and became the first to wear the pink jersey of the race leader, while Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE) finished fourth to become best young rider.

 

The Dutchman covered the 9.8 m city course in 11:03, taking the win by .022 of a second, in only the first time he has ridden the Giro.

 

The team received a royal visit before the start, as King Willem Alexander came by the team bus to wish the luck, and he was also one of the first to congratulate the 25-year-old after the stage.

 

His win means that now Giant-Alpecin has worn the leader’s jersey in all three Grand Tours — the Tour de France in 2014 and the Vuelta a Espana last year, with Dumoulin in red for six stages.

 

Dumoulin had set out to win this stage. He set out to great cheers from his homeland fans, and set the best time at the intermediate time check on his way to victory. He powered his way to the finish line in the same time to a tenth of a second as Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), forcing the decision to be based on the hundredths of a second.

 

Tom Dumoulin couldn’t stop smiling.

 

“This is incredible, even better than I ever dreamed. To win by such a small gap before this incredible home crowd is a very special feeling. There was pressure before the start but the experience from Utrecht last year helped me a lot and I was able to focus on my effort. 

"This is a huge success not only for me but also for everyone in the team. For the upcoming stages we will try and defend this leader's position for as long as possible. For sure, I will enjoy my day in the pink jersey tomorrow.

 

“I’m a very lucky man today! I realise how narrowly I’ve won by. It was a lot of suffering, especially at the end of the course. I’m actually feeling sick with a stomach bug but I’m also so so happy! I did it! The effort I made at the Tour de Romandie to prepare for this time trial has paid off.

 

”I didn’t do my best time trial today but also not my worst one. I would have liked to go a bit faster but only the result counts and winning here in the Netherlands is so special…

 

 “It sounds like I’ve made a few people happy today, hearing all the people who were shouting my name after I won, but mostly I made myself happy. It’s a very emotional moment. It’s a crazy feeling.

 

“In cycling, plans mostly don’t come together, because it’s pretty hard to win races in this sport. I was unlucky in one time trial in the Tour Romandie here I was very, very lucky. Two hundredths of a second is really nothing. This time I was on the right side of luck.

 

“I meant it when I said, it would be very difficult to win here and maybe my chances on the stage nine time trial are actually higher. The course was not necessarily the most favorable. But I did it and it’s beautiful.

 

“I knew that Primoz Roğlic had set a good time. When I crossed the line, I thought I was three seconds ahead of him, but we were actually on the same time.

 

”I’ve felt frustrated on a few occasions this year with second places in time trials but luck was on my side this time. It doesn’t matter if I win by a hundredth of a second, one second or ten seconds.

 

“It could have been one hundredth of a second or a minute or ten minutes margin for my victory, I don’t care. The important thing was winning.

 

”It’s an important step in my career. I didn’t grow up in a cycling environment but I’ve learned enough about the history of cycling to understand the meaning of the pink jersey. I hope I still have it when we arrive in Italy but it will be hard to keep it against the sprinters who will fight for time bonusses. However I’ll do my best to wear the pink jersey in this beautiful country.

 

”The weather forecast is good for the next two days and I believe a lot of people will be out on the road to cheer me on. It’s very special to be in this position in the Netherlands.

 

“I was definitely more relaxed, although if I look at the time trial itself, I don’t think it was much worse than this, only the result is better. Even when I win a race, I’m still thinking about whether I should have taken this or that line on a corner. Perfection doesn’t exist, although for sure I did better cornering than in Utrecht.

 

“At the Tour, it was the first time I had the pressure of being the big favourite in a big race in my country. But an hour before the start I started feeling big pressure. I made the right choices, I was able to concentrate well. I'm not sure I did a better time trial than in Utrecht. I just had more luck.

 

“It was really special, the whole of Apeldoorn was pink and it was like riding through a wall of noise. I think there will a lot more people out on the roads for the two remaining stages.

 

“He [the King] said he had nine minutes scheduled to follow me in the car and I told him that might be pretty tough to do! But he’s also a cycling fan, as well as other sports, and it’s special to have met him and have a bit of a conversation with him.

 

“Our goal is to defend the pink jersey as long as possible, but I didn’t come here with a GC goal. I didn’t do any altitude training beforehand and it’ll be difficult for me in the high mountains. But we have a good team here and we will try and defend it as long as possible.

 

“I'm not here for the general classification, but that does not mean I will not defend the jersey. I will defend it. What I mean when I say I do not go for the General, is that I'm not prepared for it. I have not done an altitude training camp. I will therefore be limited in the mountains. But I will not give up this pink jersey without a fight.”

 

Tobias Ludvigsson with mixed emotions after taking best result of his career

Dumoulin was not the only star for the German team. Tobias Ludvigsson put in a best time of 11:11, and sat on the hot seat for much of the day, until he was displaced by Roglic. The Swede finished the day as fourth, only eight seconds back, and his time was good enough to give him the white jersey as best young rider.

 

Chad Haga and Georg Preidler rounded out the team’s performance, finishing 12th and 13th, 16 and 17 seconds down, contributing to winning the best team ranking.

 

"We made a really good plan before the start and the coaching from the car was great. I made minor mistakes in a few corners, I couldn't hear the radio properly because of the noise from the crowd. Therefore it is a pity I end up fourth, it would have been nice to be third for once.

"The time trial was difficult but I had really good legs and I took the white jersey. It is a fantastic feeling to start a Grand Tour like this. I am so happy for Tom and for the team, it is the first victory of the season and it is a really good day for us.

 

"I was really nervous in the hot seat waiting for the favourites to arrive. My time seemed to be a good one so I believed I was going to make the top three. I’m fourth and a bit disappointed but at the same time it’s the biggest result of my career so far and it’s a little bit unreal to be part of the team with the pink jersey through Tom [Dumoulin]. We’ll support him as much as we can.

 

"It was a really good day for me and the team. For myself to have the white jersey, I surprised myself a little. I was in the hot seat all day. It’s been a long day. It’s special that we have the maglia rosa and our first victory. It’s really special."

 

Coach Marc Reef said:

 

“It is unbelievable, really nice. And good that we finally got our first victory. We made a good pacing strategy and the guys were able to execute it. 

"We have four guys in the top 15, and we can see that they are really on a good level and they can push power for a long time and keep the speed high. It is impressive what we showed here today. It was also great to see Chad [Haga] performing at a high level after recovering from the training accident." 

 

Team CEO Iwan Spekenbrink saw beyond the mere fact of winning a stage.

 

“This is a true milestone, a great victory for Tom [Dumoulin], who is maturing as an athlete. Step by step he is turning pressure into motivation, which is a good development. He did a very solid race.

 

“But we also have Tobias [Ludvigsson] in the best young rider jersey in the fourth spot. I think we also won the team classification, so today is a really successful day.

"We all know where we come from in January, what a huge setback we had. We said, ok we cannot change it, we have to accept it ,we have to stay calm and keep on working. We said that when we get back we will be stronger and I think this is the confirmation of that.”

 

Primoz Roglic: I never even been close to the specialists before

Primoz Roglic was 200th of a second shy of a major upset in the opening time trial of the Giro d’Italia. The Slovenian Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider finished his time trial in 11.03 minutes and was provisionally the fastest for a long time. Only Tom Dumoulin (Giant - Alpecin) beat him by a hair.

 

“I didn’t even dream about winning this time trial,” Roglic said about his second place. “I’ve delivered some fine time trials, but they weren’t even close to what the specialists are capable of. I was very close today, though. I don’t think that I did anything wrong, but to be honest, I haven’t been thinking about it at all.

 

“It was totally crazy around me on the course. I wasn’t even able to hear my sports director talking to me through the ear piece.

 

"I did not expect to sit in the hot seat until end. Of course I would have liked to have the pink jersey now, but I'm really happy with my performance."

 

 Sports Director Addy Engels was not expecting Roglic to put in such a ride.

 

“We weren’t counting on a Primoz win at all,” he added. “He said that he was feeling stronger than ever, but we don’t know that much about Primoz at the moment, so nobody knew what that meant. We know now, and it makes it even more painful that he didn’t win. He delivered the time trial of his life, but doesn’t have the pink jersey.”

 

Unlucky Jos van Emden: My Giro was all about today

Jos van Emden, who was Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s main gun for the time trial, crashed. Engels added:

 

“That was, without a doubt, the biggest setback of the day. Jos was doing well. He took a knock from this disappointment and has to recover from it.”

 

 “I slipped away in the turn,” said van Emden. “I came to this race to deliver a strong opening time trial, so you take risks to accomplish that. It went south in that corner. I felt good about the first part of my time trial, so I’m very fed up about the way it turned out. My Giro was about today.”

 

Van Emden only suffered scrapes due to the crash.

 

Great time trial for satisfied Steven Kruijswijk

Steven Kruijswijk was the last Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider off and finished 22nd.

 

“He did a strong job,” Engels continued. “He won time on most of his competitors for the general classification. It’s looking good for Steven.”

 

"It was okay, I did a good prologue. I can go further from," said Kruijswijk.” The enthusiasm of the people is very motivating. It was nice to ride here.

 

“Roglic and I have been together for altitude training. He was focused on this time trial, but that he would be second here was completely unexpected."

 

Protecting Kruijswijk remains the most important task for the team in the second stage between Arnhem and Nijmegen.

 

“It would be nice if we’re able to be part of the early breakaway because the stage goes through Holland, but the main task is to come through this day with Steven. Moreno Hofland can go for the sprint afterwards,” Engels said

 

Andrey Amador after third place in Giro opener: I will only get stronger

The fourth-place finisher in the 2015 Giro d'Italia has started the 2016 edition with a bang. Despite Andrey Amador being focused - likethe whole Movistar Team - on helping out Alejandro Valverde in this 'Corsa Rosa', the man from Costa Rica didn't stop looking for glory in a discipline, time trials, which already took him into a provisional podium in Italy twelve months ago. Only the day's winner Tom Dumoulin (TGA) and Slovenia's Primoz Roglic (TGA) bested Amador - by six seconds - over the 9.8km course in Apeldoorn, the latter part ruining the chances of most specialists in a pan-flat course in Gelderland, but not preventing Amador from notching up the first good result for the telephone squad in a Grand Tour this year.

 

In turn, Valverde made a notable time trial in his Giro debut. The Spanish road race champion finished 24" behind Dumoulin to keep hold of GC contenders Chaves (+6"), Zakarin (+8"), Urán (+9"), Majka (+14") or Landa (+16"). Only Vincenzo Nibali (AST), five seconds faster than the Spaniard, and Steven Kruijswijk (TLJ, 2" ahead) could improve his result. It's thus all good feelings for the Jaimerena-Chente group ahead of a duo of fast, tricky stages in Gelderland, prelude to the first big transfer of this Giro to the south of Italy on Monday.

 

"I'm really happy with what I did today. It's hopefully a good start to a great Giro, both for us team and for Alejandro, who clocked a great time today. The squad is feeling stronger after this race... and we're only getting started. I felt really well on the course - knowing that the work done at home makes you confident, and I think my legs will improve over the three weeks. I hope not to disappoint, be there at the front and hopefully, give the team a good race at the end of this Giro." 

 

Marcel Kittel after great time trial: The pink jersey is not a priority

One of the most successful teams of the past decade, Etixx – Quick-Step showed since the opening day how motivated is to do something in the race, placing two riders in the top 10, Marcel Kittel and Luxembourg champion Bob Jungels.

 

Returning to the race for the first time since 2014, Kittel was among the late starters in the 9.8-km long flat and non-technical individual time trial in Apeldoorn. A former Junior world champion and winner of the U23 European title in the same discipline, the German showing he still has the skills against the clock, especially on short distances, and finished 5th, only 11 seconds behind the first pink jersey of the race, Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin).

 

"It was difficult out there, as is every time trial. I got a good result and I'm satisfied with it, but this doesn't change anything. Taking the pink jersey isn't my priority, my focus in only on the flat stages and the sprints. I will be happy if today's result will help me don the maglia rosa, but I'm not going to put extra pressure on my team for this", said Marcel Kittel following his impressive fifth place on the opening day of the Corsa Rosa.

 

Moreno Moser back on track with great time trial at the Giro

Moreno Moser was Cannondale's fastest guy from the time trial with a time that landed him in sixth place. Rigo Uran, the Giro leader, stopped the clock 33 seconds off the winning time for a 43rd place finish.

 

DS Fabrizio Guidi comments on Giro d'Italia stage one TT:

 

"Of course we didn’t go full gas with every rider. We didn’t take too much risk. I think our leader did good. He’s improving day by day from the effort in Romandie."

 

Moreno Moser comments on his sixth place finish in a Grand Tour in his home country:

 

"It's really nice to be in top ten at the Giro. For me the Giro is really special, but we're only at the first stage. My condition is pretty good and I will stay focused on the next stage!"

 

Disappointed Fabian Cancellara: I had a strange feeling

The 99th Giro d'Italia kicked off Friday with a 9.8-kilometer time trial in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. The sunshine brought out throngs of people, lining the entire course held entirely in the city, and it made for a spectacular start.

 

There was no secret that Fabian Cancellara targeted the win and the coveted maglia rosa in the opening time trial, but when he came down with gastroenteritis in the days before the race, and still dealt with the flu symptoms in the warm up, only a miracle was going to launch Cancellara into pink.

 

Despite the ideal conditions on a course tailored perfectly to Fabian Cancellara, the gastroenteritis got the better of him leaving him 14 seconds slower in a time of 11:17.

 

"It was a strange feeling during the race, I think," Cancellara said. "I just did the maximum I could; more than that was just not there.

 

"The last two weeks I was training hard and had much better sensations. When I was pushing today, I could feel there was something more missing. In the end, I lost almost one second by kilometer. I mean, I am not used [to this]. I feel also that somehow I came to a point where I just could not give more, push more. I said that I would give everything that I could, and I did this. This is just the honest result.

 

"Of course being a specialist I can manage somehow a good result, but I mean I am used to different efforts and a different way to perform. I am kind of disappointed, but the situation is I am still sick. This morning I was still fighting the stomach flu symptoms right before the race. This doesn't help and also the fear I had took a lot of the energy away. It is how it is. I will try to save as much I can in the next days to make it to Italy in better condition.

 

“My legs weren’t strong enough, I spoke this morning with Luca [Guercilena - Trek-Segafredo sports director] because I knew there would be a lot of pressure.

 

“I’ve been working so hard here for so many weeks to try to be ready and I was really moving along in the right direction. But as I’ve said, I’ve been ill and my strength hasn’t come back, something was missing or lacking.

 

“I did the maximum I could but I’m not here just to ride around. I’m really disappointed.

“I’m sure I can have other objectives in this race, but for now I just hope I can return to Italy feeling a little bit stronger.

“The next thing over the next few days is to recover as best as possible, to lose as little energy as possible, even if it means getting dropped from time to time, so I can get back to Italy as strong as possible.”

Satisfied Ryder Hesjedal: I had good power in the legs

Giacomo Nizzolo (11:30) and Riccardo Zoidl (11:31) clocked fast times to show they are in top form for the three-week race, and in the battle of the overall contenders, Ryder Hesjedal put in a very respectable performance to finish in 11:36. Hesjedal's time was right around his biggest rivals, a promising start for the Canadian.

 

"I felt good out there," said Hesjedal. "It was a beautiful course, the sun is shining, and it was an amazing start in the velodrome to begin this Giro. I am happy [with the result]. In 10 kilometers it was completely people the whole way! It's pretty amazing to put everything you have out on the road in a tunnel of people – that's a special part of the sport and for sure here, there is no shortage of fans.

 

"Most of the GC guys went later, and we decided that I would go early. Personally, I felt like I did a great ride and didn't make any mistakes. Dirk [Demol, director] was in the car and was really helpful, and I think we executed really well. The bike was perfect, and I had good power from the legs, and you can't ask for anything more."

 

Disappointed Matthias Brändle: I came to win

“I came to win, but I found that was too difficult for me,” Matthias Brändle commented after finishing 9th in the windy prologue for the Giro kickoff.  “I really felt very good on the bike, which is one reason I am so disappointed.  Now we will do everything possible to win a stage with our sprinters or perhaps in a breakaway.”

 

IAM Cycling sports manager, Rik Verbrugghe was realistic when taking stock of the performance his riders gave. 

 

 “Matthias Brändle did a strong prologue, but this did not prove to be sufficient to win the stage.  Meanwhile, Roger Kluge found an extra gear and narrowly missed the top-10.  Now we must make every effort to meet our goal of winning at least one stage.  In the Netherlands, it is very windy, so we will have to be attentive in order to be present in the breakaways, or indeed in preparation for a mass sprint.”

 

“I just felt awful today,” exclaimed Heinrich Haussler before cycling the 28 kilometers to his hotel.  “It’s more important, though, to make sure the legs are turning properly this weekend where we will likely have sprint finishes.”

 

Roger Kluge who is a recent silver medalists at the world championships in the points race on the track, grabbed himself a strong and surprising 11th place in the prologue, losing just two seconds to his teammate and prologue specialist, Matthias Brändle.

 

Silvan Dillier surprises himself with top 10 in Giro opener

It was a tough day for BMC Racing Team at the opening time trial of the Giro d’Italia.

 

Swiss National Time Trial champion Silvan Dillier put in a sold performance to cross the line with the tenth fastest time, 16 seconds behind winner Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Alpecin).

 

Dillier goes into stage 2 sitting in tenth place on the General Classification and Points Classification.

 

Silvan Dillier said:

 

“It was actually a good time trial for me with some corners, and some efforts sprinting out of the corners so this is actually what suits me quite well. I didn’t really know where I would finish because it’s actually the first time trial for me this year. So I’m pretty happy with tenth place.

 

“I was really excited when I put on my Swiss National Time Trial kit today for the first time with my white shoe covers. So I thought to myself even if I don’t go very fast at least I’ll look good!

 

“The next time trial in the Chianti region could be a good one for me too so I’m looking forward to this one as well. The last one is completely uphill and doesn’t suit me at all.”

 

Disappointed and unlucky Stefan Küng: I can take a lot of good things from my performance

Stefan Küng, who went in as a pre-race favorite, went through the intermediate check point just one second behind Dumoulin, only to crash into the barriers and lose time in a disappointing end to his day. Despite needing a bike change and losing significant time, Küng showed his form to come home in 11’33, to finish in 34th place.

 

"I felt really good since leaving the start block,” he said. “I was really on, I really had it, feeling good, feeling powerful, and had good speed. For me it's always the hardest phase with 5-3 kilometers to go, and there I was just getting back into the rhythm and then came the nasty right corner. It's hard to tell what happened. When you're racing on the edge it can be such a tiny thing and you're over the limit and I think that's what happened. By back wheel slipped, I crashed into the barriers and yeah, that's life!

 

"I just rode but in your head you know already that you've lost and it's kind of hard to go to the finish. I think I had it today and you don't get many chances to win at the Giro d'Italia but I take a lot of good things from it too. It was the first time since my illness that I really felt good. It gives me a lot of confidence and we've still got 20 stages to go and I'm going to give it my all in every one."

 

Sports director Max Sciandri said:

“Silvan did a good ride but the plan was always all in for Stefan. At the time split he was right on Dumoulin’s heels and we’re still trying to figure out exactly how he crashed. He didn’t go into the corner any faster than anyone else, so we’ll try and figure out if it was a mechanical problem or an error. Stefan was prepared for the corner, he knew it was a right hand turn and a very narrow exit. We did what we could to get him back out there and when you look at the full results, he still managed to put in a respectable time. It’s disappointing for Stefan and for the team. But that’s cycling.

 

“Once we’ve gotten over today we can look towards the next stages and see what we can do.”

 

Rafal Majka limits his losses in Giro d’Italia time trial

At the start of what is bound to be three weeks of spectacular racing in the season’s first Grand Tour, the Giro d’Italia opened with an equally spectacular individual time trial through the streets of Apeldoorn in The Netherlands. Over a fast and flat course, Manuele Boaro was the team's first rider to finish, taking 15th position, followed by leader for the race, Rafal Majka. While the Polish team leader was aiming to reduce time losses ahead of a gruelling race, Boaro finished strongly among some of the biggest names in time trialling.

 

With the stage winner narrowly missing out on beating the eleven-minute mark, Manuele Boaro was the first Tinkoff rider home with a time of 11'21" – eighteen seconds slower – taking 15th position and making a great first impression on his home race.

 

With his sights on the GC race, Tinkoff’s leader, Rafal Majka, was simply aiming to limit time losses on this first stage, letting the specialists take centre stage today. He finished in 60th position with a time of 11'41". From the stage’s finish, Sport Director, Tristan Hoffman, explained the team’s aims for today.

 

“Today was about not losing too much time to the other GC contenders for Rafal, and then the other guys going about 95% to get into the rhythm but not go too deep. Manuele pushed on though and had a good ride to come 15th on this course. Rafal lost a little bit of time to the favourites but in general it was good and we can be quite pleased with the start, as we didn’t have any real expectations for this stage.”

 

After a lot of hard work preparing for the first Grand Tour of the season, in terms of training, team selection, equipment and finalising details at last week’s Tour de Romandie, Hoffman was pleased with how the first day unfolded.

 

“Everything behind the scenes went smoothly which is also important in getting a Grand Tour off to a good start. The whole set up was good, and it’s exciting to be in here in Holland. If you saw the crowds today, you can see that the support out there today was fantastic.”

 

The Giro’s second stage is the second of three days in the Netherlands, with a 190km route that culminates in a two-lap finishing circuit in Nijmegen. While the weather is likely to be kind to the riders, there’s always the possibility of wind, as Hoffman suggested ahead of the day.

 

“Tomorrow, at the moment the weather doesn’t look like it will be a factor, with sunshine and little wind, but you never know. Even so, you have to stay near the front to be out of trouble as it’s always nervous in the early days. I expect some teams to push for a bunch sprint as there’s just one little climb, so it will be about getting into the rhythm tomorrow and looking after Rafal and one another on the road.”

 

Optimistic Vincenzo Nibali wins first GC battle at the Giro d’Italia

"I am satisfied,” said Vincenzo Nibali. “It was a full gas time trial, with many corners where you had to slow down a little and then push again immediately.

 

"This morning we studied the route well and I am happy to have started the pink adventure well. Tomorrow it will be a stage for sprinters, we must be careful.

 

“Getting through this stage was very important. For now I can be more than satisfied, because before the race I felt a lot of pressure.

“It’s always a long wait before a Grand Tour actually gets to start, but I have got through this stage and it’s good to get it started.”

“It was a very explosive time trial. It was difficult to calculate my strength, and I had to really accelerate hard out of the corners. The first part was very fast, the second part was really one of force and you had to wear yourself out on those two very long straights.

“But I’m pleased. One stage down, now onto another.”

 

Nibali finished in sixteenth place at 19 seconds but gained precious seconds on the main rivals for the final victory, Alejandro Valverde and Mikel Landa.

 

"A good start,” said the general manager Alexandr Vinokourov. “The team is well prepared and Vincenzo showed that he is already going strong."

 

Excellent start for Esteban Chaves in flat Giro time trial

Strong performances for ORICA-GreenEDGE from Australians Damien Howson,Michael Hepburn and Canadian Svein Tuft in the stage one individual time trial provided a solid start to the 2016 Giro d’Italia for the Australian team.

 

Esteban Chaves produced a fantastic ride on the completely flat 9.8kilometre course, posting a time of eleven minutes 33seconds ensuring a positive to start to the race for the 2015 Tour of Abu Dhabi winner. Chaves sits in 33rd position after stage one gaining a small but possibly important advantage on some of his rivals for the general classification.

 

The stage was won by Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) with a time of eleven minutes and three seconds. Both Howson and Hepburn were only twenty seconds behind the Dutchman and finished in 17th and 19th place respectively.

 

Sport director Matt White was pleased with how the day unfolded for the team.

 

“It was definitely a good day for us,” said White. “Esteban (Chaves) produced an excellent ride over a course that doesn’t naturally suit his strengths. Today was a flat day for the big powerful riders not the smaller climbers which makes Esteban's result very impressive.

 

“To be in front of the vast majority of general classification competitors and just behind the big favourites is a really good start to the race for us.”

 

“Seconds do matter in a grand tour, they can be all important,” explained White. “Today’s performance gives Esteban and the team a lot of confidence going into the rest of the race, in particular the individual time trial in Chianti on stage ten.”

 

Alexandre Geniez disappointed after 20th place in Giro d’Italia opener

Alexandre Geniez was one of the best GC riders with his 20th place.

 

"I'm a little disappointed with my time trial. I started quickly but the end was hard. The Giro is still long,” he told BeIN Sports.

 

Overenthusiastic Tim Wellens fades in Giro d’Italia time trial

When he passed at the intermediate time check after 4.8 kilometres, Tim Wellens set the best time, but he lost time in the second half of the course. Wellens is the first Lotto Soudal rider in the ranking, he is 30th at 28 seconds.

 

"I started too fast," he told Het Nieuwsblad. “I was a little overconfident. I felt my legs but then I just stalled. Why is that? Well, I was a little too enthusiastic in the beginning. I had, however, decided after the recon to start quietly in the beginning so I still had forces in the end, but that plan did not work. Well, it is what it is. In this last part I was really quite slow, I even rode slower than I did in training.

 

"I would have liked to do a good time trial but it was also not disastrous if I rode a bad time trial, because I am not here for the GC but for a stage victory. My focus is later in this Giro, in the second and third week. Tomorrow and Sunday will be important for André Greipel. I especially want to help him and the team.”

 

Diego Ulissi: I had good response from my legs.

Diego Ulissi started well by taking 31st.

 

"My performance satisfies me, I managed to be regular in my action all the way even though the wind made it slower in the second part,” he said.. “I pushed my Merida Warp TT, always pedaling with 54 × 12 or 13, choosing to go with the front wheel Fulcrum Racing Speed ​​50mm. It wasnot the result I was looking for today, but I still got a good response from my legs.”

 

Satisfied Mikel Landa: I thought I would lose more time

Mikel Landa kicked off his 2016 Giro d'Italia campaign with a solid opening time trial effort on stage one in Apeldoorn.

 

The Spaniard clocked a time of 11 minutes and 43 seconds across the flat 9.8-kilometre course in Holland, as the three-week showpiece got off to a spectacular start.

 

That effort saw Landa minimise his losses to a number of key general classification rivals, and tick off one his least favoured tests on the 21-stage parcours.

 

Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) delighted his home crowd to take the victory by fractions of a second and pull on the first Maglia Rosa of the race. The Dutchman edged out Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) by less than a second, with the pair setting a time of 11:03.

 

Nicolas Roche was the fastest Team Sky rider on the day, putting in the 32nd best marker, 30 seconds back in front of a packed crowd.

 

With Dumoulin out of reach, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was the next big GC contender home, 19 seconds down. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was another five seconds back, with Landa 40 seconds down on the new race leader.

 

In the context of the GC Landa gave up just two seconds to Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) and seven to Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale). He sits also 21 and 16 seconds back on Nibali and Valverde respectively.

 

Still firmly in the mix and looking forward to mountainous days to come, Landa told Eurosport post-stage:

 

"It was difficult but I think my time is quite good. It's what we expected. This was a short, flat and difficult stage. I thought I could have lost more time.

 

"I felt pretty good. It wasn't my best day and now I'm pretty tired, but I'm happy with my result."

 

“This was one of the time trials that worried me, short and flat and not at all favourable for me and I thought I’d lose more time. The time was within what I hoped for overall.

 

“My legs hurt, though, it’s hard to quantify exactly how badly, I was going well but I felt pretty rough at the same time.

 

“Had the differences risen to a minute, they could have been very important. So I’m pleased with how I feel and the time loss.”

 

Roche added:

 

"We all know that the Giro can be won and lost by a few seconds. He’s coming in here with confidence and we know that he needs to do a good time compared to his direct opponents."

 

Elia Viviani has his sights set on a pair of upcoming sprint stages and put in the 53rd best time (+36"), with Christian Knees shaking off a pre-race training crash to come in 56th with the same time.

 

Sport Director Dario Cioni was full of praise for the way Landa tackled the challenge, and again put the performance into context across the three weeks of the Giro.

 

"With Mikel we're having a bit of a different start to usual," he explained. "We all remember a few years ago we were here with Bradley (Wiggins) and he went into the pink jersey. Mikel is a completely different type of rider, so today was about limiting the time losses. He put in a good ride on a course that doesn't suit him at all. Even the time loss to Nibali is fairly small. 20 seconds is in the lower range of what we might have expected - so he's done well.

 

"The work he's done during the winter has moved him forwards. It hasn't made him a time trial specialist, but if you look at today it could have been a stage where he'd lost a minute to the winner. The average time of the winner was 53km/h and Mikel was pushing 50km/h in a lot of sections of the course. For a climber that's pretty good!"

 

Cioni also expanded on stage two and a likely sprint test on Saturday. As Team Sky found out the hard way in 2010, the Dutch roads are full of dangers.

 

"For sure after the time trial (Marcel) Kittel put in today he wants to have a sprint finish so he can try to get into the pink jersey. We can expect a couple of sprints in the next few days and these are chances for Elia. That doesn't mean to say that tomorrow it will be an easy stage. The worst thing you can do is go in unprepared for stages like this. In Holland we've seen many times, from both the Eneco Tour and Giro in 2010, there is a lot of road furniture that can make things complicated. But we've got a strong team here for this and we're confident Mikel will do well."

Ilnurr Zakarin: I didn’t expect to be on top today

For Team KATUSHA the day was all about general classification rider Ilnur Zakarin staying close to the other overall contenders and he did just that.

 

”I am pretty satisfied with today’s ITT. Of course, it was a hard 10 km, but my legs were OK. After Romandie, I tried to use the time until the Giro to obtain maximum recovery, so I didn’t expect to be on the top today. But, in general the feelings were good,” said team leader Ilnur Zakarin(+0.32 for 38th place).

 

Jean-Christophe Peraud: It was not the start I was looking for

"The Giro has started,” said Jean-Christophe Peraud who was 62nd. “It's not the result I expected, but it is not catastrophic either. Now I'm focused on the next two days in the Netherlands where it will be important to avoid traps. Another Giro will start Tuesday in Italy. We must remain vigilant but the whole team is united and ready to fight.”

 

Quiet Giro d’Italia debut for Dimension Data

In their debut Giro d'Italia, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka was motivated to race in front of the huge Apeldoorn crowd despite the African Team not having a specialist against the clock. With the start taking place inside the magnificent Apeldoorn Velodrome, it was a great spectacle to be a part of.

 

Jaco Venter set a good early time over the 9.8km course for the African Team by coming across the finish-line in a time of 11'49", which would be an average speed of 50km/h.  Kanstantsin Siutsou was the last rider to come home and he would also be the best placed finisher on the stage as well. Siutsou set a time of 11'43", just 40 seconds slower than Dumoulin's winning effort. All the other riders on the squad had no issues out on the course and now look forward to tomorrow’s first road stage of the Giro d'Italia.

 

Merhawi Kudus said:
 

“Today was a short and fast race, as all prologue time trials are. I was really excited to get the Giro d'Italia started. I didn't make any big mistakes and the course wasn't that technical. I'm not too sure yet of my time but I know I can be happy with my result as I did my best. I am happy with how the day went.”

 

Rolf Aldag, Head of Performance, said:
 

“The most important thing of today is we got everybody home safe. It was a super nice experience to see Holland in pink. There were a lot of fans on the side of the road cheering the riders on. There are another 20 days to go for us, we started to get into our routine today and now we have two more days in Holland before we make our transfer down to Italy.”

 

No top result for Bardiani in Giro d’Italia opener

Fo the #GreenTeam which has no time trial specialist on its roster, the main goal was to finish the race without any crashes or other sort of problems. The best result was achieved by Stefano Pirazzi, 70th at the finish in 11’43.