Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narvaez outsprinted Giro d’Italia favourite Tadej Pogacar to win the opening stage of the first Grand Tour of the year.
Ineos Grenadiers rider Narvaez charged to the finish line in Turin to push Slovenian Pogacar into third, with Germany’s Max Schachmann taking second.
UAE Team Emirates rider Pogacar is aiming to complete a rare double – to win the Giro and Tour de France in the same year – a feat that has not been achieved since Marco Pantani in 1998.
He attacked on the final climb, dropping the majority of his rivals for overall victory, and although he was unable to win the stage he already has a handy lead over the likes of Britain’s Geraint Thomas.
Narvaez claimed his second stage win in the Giro, having also taken a stage in 2020.
His Ineos team-mate Thomas finished in 11th place, 10 seconds behind the front three on the day, to lie 20 seconds behind leader Narvaez overall once the bonus seconds for winning the stage are taken into account.