Within minutes of losing ground for the first time on this Giro d’Italia in Fossombrone, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was already sitting aboard his time trial bike. He would have used the machine for his warm-down regardless of the result, of course, but now it doubled as a way of parking Saturday’s disappointment and looking forward to the opportunity presented by the stage 9 time trial to Cesena.
After conceding 14 seconds to Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), Tao Geoghegan Hart and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) on the steep slopes of I Cappuccini, Evenepoel returns to the rather friendlier confines of the time trial on Sunday. The 35km course is almost entirely flat and devoid of any real technical difficulties. Raw power and pure aerodynamics will win the day, and Evenepoel scores better than most on each score.
After his exhibition in the opening time trial in Ortona, Evenepoel is the obvious favourite for stage victory, not least because Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) has withdrawn due to a case of COVID-19. Evenepoel is also expected to re-take the maglia rosa, given that he lies just eight seconds off Andreas Leknessund. The only question, it seems, is how much time the Belgian will gain on everybody else.
When Evenepoel scorched to the first pink jersey of the race in Ortona, his dominance was total. The margin of victory was imposing, but so too was its manner. The impact on his rivals’ morale was surely exacerbated when stories began circulating in the Belgian press that Evenepoel wore short sleeves in the time trials because his bare skin was supposedly more aerodynamic than the most advanced forearms. He is not, it seems, a rider like any other.
Evenepoel gained 2.19 seconds per kilometre on Roglič on the opening stage, and if he can replicate that performance here, he would pick up another 1:16 on the Slovenian. On Saturday evening, Evenepoel all but confirmed that this was his target for stage 9. “I want to strike again in the time trial,” he said. “I picked up 43 seconds [on Roglič] the last time. I hope to get at least as many here.”
While Evenepoel is the consensus favourite to win the stage, not everybody is convinced that his gains in Cesena will be as striking as the buffer he amassed on the opening day. Bora-Hansgrohe directeur sportif Enrico Gasparotto…
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