It rained all day between Savignano sul Rubicone and Cesena. The drizzly weather and the treacherous roads did not immediately invite 35 km of racing against the clock, but the riders simply had to go through that.
It also took a while before there was a decent target time on the tables. Dutch time trial champion Mollema charmed with a strong time and kept the hot seat warm for half an hour. His 42:23 was wiped out by two Groupama-FDJ teammates who pushed each other to their limits. Armirail clocked in 41:32, Küng went under another 4 seconds.
Hiding under their umbrellas, the roadside supporters witnessed another duel between teammates. Hart and Thomas, the tandem of Ineos, fought a battle that was even more captivating. Thomas trumped his younger comrade by 1 second to take the lead.
That all seemed to be an afterthought, because at the first intermediate point Evenepoel set a cannon time. The Belgian champion seemed ready to give everyone a twist around the ears. Big competitor Roglic already had half a minute on his pants there. Evenepoel seemed to turn the Giro completely to his will.
In the end it didn’t go that fast. After all, Roglic and especially Thomas had arranged their time trial a little better. Second by second, Evenepoel lost his lead, until he recorded exactly the same time as Thomas at the last intermediate point. With a scorching last kilometer, the Evenepoel still took the day victory. 1 second was the difference with Thomas in the end. Roglic lost 17 and ended up right back at it.
2023-05-14 15:07:00
#Remco #Evenepoel #wins #2nd #time #trial #regains #pink #jersey #Giro #dItalia
