APELDOORN, Netherlands: Home favorite Tom Dumoulin won the opening individual time trial of the Giro d’Italia by the finest of margins on Friday.
At the end of the flat 9.8-kilometer route, the Dutchman beat Primoz Roglic of Slovenia by one hundredth of a second.
Roglic took the lead off Dumoulin’s Giant-Alpecin teammate, Tobias Ludvigsson, who had been in the hot seat for around 90 minutes.
Ludvigsson eventually finished fourth, eight seconds behind the leading duo, and two seconds behind Costa Rican cyclist Andrey Amador.
Another time trial specialist, Fabian Cancellara, was hoping for a victory that would have handed him the first maglia rosa of his long career. But he was hampered by stomach flu and finished eighth, 14 seconds behind Dumoulin.
Overall favorite Vincenzo Nibali, the 2013 champion, was 19 seconds behind in 16th place.
Stefan Kung threatened to challenge Dumoulin’s lead as he was only one second slower at 4.8 kilometers, but he crashed into the barriers. The Swiss rider finished up 16 seconds behind.
The 99th Giro continues in the Netherlands with two sprint stages before an early rest day and a return to Italy. The race ends in Turin on May 29.
At the end of the flat 9.8-kilometer route, the Dutchman beat Primoz Roglic of Slovenia by one hundredth of a second.
Roglic took the lead off Dumoulin’s Giant-Alpecin teammate, Tobias Ludvigsson, who had been in the hot seat for around 90 minutes.
Ludvigsson eventually finished fourth, eight seconds behind the leading duo, and two seconds behind Costa Rican cyclist Andrey Amador.
Another time trial specialist, Fabian Cancellara, was hoping for a victory that would have handed him the first maglia rosa of his long career. But he was hampered by stomach flu and finished eighth, 14 seconds behind Dumoulin.
Overall favorite Vincenzo Nibali, the 2013 champion, was 19 seconds behind in 16th place.
Stefan Kung threatened to challenge Dumoulin’s lead as he was only one second slower at 4.8 kilometers, but he crashed into the barriers. The Swiss rider finished up 16 seconds behind.
The 99th Giro continues in the Netherlands with two sprint stages before an early rest day and a return to Italy. The race ends in Turin on May 29.
