As it happened: Narváez defeats Pogačar to win opening stage of the Giro

Thanks for joining us today, for what was a corker of an opening to the Giro. It seems Pogačar is not going to have everything his own way in this race. We’ll be back tomorrow for an early summit finish at the Oropa Sanctuary, which, if today’s drama on comparatively easy climbs is anything to go by, will see serious fireworks among the GC contenders.

Here’s what stage winner Narváez had to say at the finish.

“Following the best guy in the world on the climb was really hard, so it’s a special victory today. It’s still hurting me now. It was really hard, really, really hard but in the end, I made it.”

“I think he went too long in the sprint, 200 metres after a really hard stage and I did a short sprint and in the end I took the victory.”

“For me it’s amazing.There aren’t many opportunities in a Grand Tour to get the Maglia Rosa on the first day because you have a bunch sprint, a TT or a different stage. Today was a good opportunity. I worked really, really hard for it.”

More time was lost by Quintana, who finished 57 seconds behind, finishing in the same group as Bardet and Plapp, who were dropped earlier. 

Aside from the riders dropped earlier (such as Arensman and Bardet), it seems most of the GC contenders finished in the group at 10 seconds: as well as Thomas, Caruso, Dunbar, O’Connor,  Martínez and Uijtdebroeks were all there.

What a great day for Ecuadorian cycling, too, with Narvaez wearing their national colours as national champion. The nation already has a real love affair with the Giro, following Carapaz’s overall win here five years ago.

Here’s today’s top ten in full:

1 Jhonatan Narváez 

2 Max Schachmann 

3 Tadej Pogačar both at same time

4 Alex Baudin at 6 secs

5 Nicola Conci at 10secs

6 Quinten Hermans

7 Mauri Vansevenant

8 Antonio Tiberi

9 Attila Valter

10 Geraint Thomas all at same time

The rest of the favourites arrived 10 seconds behind the leading trio, so not too much time coneded to Pogačar.

It turns out Schachmann also got the better of  Pogačar in the photo finish, claiming second-place behind Jhonatan Narváez.

The real story of the day though is the sensational ride by Jhonatan…