BOLOGNA, Italy – Primož Roglic of Slovenia won the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday, finishing the individual time trial just ahead of two of the other pre-race favorites.
Roglic, who rides for Jumbo-Visma, was the only cyclist to finish in under 13 minutes on the 5.1-mile route, which was mainly flat before ending in a steep climb up to the Sanctuary of San Luca.
The 29-year-old Roglic was 19 seconds faster than British cyclist Simon Yates and 23 seconds ahead of home favorite Vincenzo Nibali.
Roglic was 12th down the ramp and had a long wait to see whether his time of 12 minutes, 54 seconds would be enough to beat Yates, who was one of the last to start.
“We were waiting here for I think 3 hours but finally,” Roglic said. “It’s a really nice feeling. We did a perfect job and I’m super happy.”
Sunday’s second stage is a rolling 127-mile route from Bologna to Fucecchio, which should be won by a sprinter.
Durango’s Sepp Kuss finished in 93rd with a time of 14:35 and is 1:41 behind Roglic. Kuss was the fourth-best finisher for Jumbo-Visma on the day, as Laurens De Plus was ninth in 13:29, while Jos van Emden finished in 14:00 and took 35th. Chad Haga was the highest American finisher, as he took 21st in 13:48.
The Giro finishes in Verona on June 2.
The Durango Herald contributed to this report.
