‘The cards are partly on the table’ – Tipping the hand in opening Giro d’Italia Women GC salvo

At 16 kilometres long the Giro d’Italia Women stage 1 individual time trial was always going to be an opening salvo, rather than a definitive strike, in the general classification battle but it has left a group of riders with some work to do once the climbing gets underway.

Only a few were within 30 seconds of Italian favourite Elisa Longo Borghini who claimed victory with a time of 20:37, and most key climbing rivals were closer to a minute or two back. That left the Lidl-Trek rider in a commanding position, after she not only outpaced all her likely contenders but even World Championship time trial silver medallist Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez), to claim the first maglia rosa of the 2024 edition with a one-second margin.