Tadej Pogacar is more leader of the Giro d'Italia 2024 after winning the first time trial

Tadej Pogacar fulfilled the predictions by not only gaining time on his rivals in the first time trial of the 2024 Giro d'Italia but also making a statement by winning the stage ahead of the top favorite for the day, Filippo Ganna, who once again sees a general classification contender snatch his main goal of a grand tour.

Tadej Pogacar's plan to win the 2024 Giro d'Italia is on track

He was the top favorite before the start of the race and, as the days go by, he continues to follow the path he had set to achieve the coveted pink jersey. We are talking, of course, about Tadej Pogacar, who once again has made good use of his favorite status to not only consolidate his lead in the general classification before the first big mountain stage tomorrow but also to allow himself the luxury of winning the stage after a spectacular finish.

The stage started early, an unusually long time trial of 40 kilometers between Foligno and Perugia, with a profile that included the first 34 flat kilometers and the final 6 kilometers of constant ascent towards this beautiful Italian city where the cyclists faced a wall of just over 1 kilometer at an 11% gradient at the beginning.

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The Giant of Verbania, Filippo Ganna, started as the favorite, with the two long time trials of this 2024 Giro d'Italia as his main objective for this edition. However, the profile of the stage raised doubts about whether the Slovenian would be able to make up for what the INEOS-Grenadiers cyclist could gain in the preceding kilometers during the final 6 kilometers of climbing.

Ganna started the time trial early and, obviously, he was dominating all the intermediate checkpoints he passed, setting a time of 52 minutes and 1 second at the finish line, which improved by more than a minute and a half the previous best time, set by Mikkel Bjerg. Although it seemed like an unbeatable time, Ganna's body language at the finish line did not reflect the same, expressing his disappointment with his performance, which made him uncertain about maintaining the top spot at the end of the day.

In fact, the fact that riders like Schachmann or Sheffield were only 48 and 38 seconds behind the Italian was a clear indication that his time was not as outstanding as on other occasions.

It was necessary to wait a while to see the general classification favorites in action, and as expected, none of them could come close to Filippo Ganna's times on the flat section, all of them losing around a minute from the first intermediate checkpoint, a trend that continued in the second intermediate checkpoint, located just at the foot of the final climb.

We say with nuances because while all of them were losing more time from the first to the second intermediate checkpoint, Tadej Pogacar's difference remained almost unchanged between both, indicating that the Slovenian had perfectly controlled the pace in this initial section, leaving everything to be decided on the final climb of the day.

Meanwhile, other riders like Ben O'Connor or Alexey Lutsenko were reaching the finish line, conceding 1 minute 50 and 2 minutes 16 seconds respectively, which can be considered a good time trial for them.

During the climb, the cards were revealed. The young Cian Uijtdebroeks had a good ascent and recovered some of the time lost to Ganna to finish 2'55" behind the Italian. Right behind him, an excellent Daniel Felipe Martinez arrived, perhaps the most benefited rider of the day apart from the Slovenian, who gained more than half a minute in the climb to finish just 1'32" behind. In fact, he was able to overtake Geraint Thomas, who struggled in the time trial and lost more than 20 seconds in the climbing section.

And the moment of truth arrived: could Tadej Pogacar make up the 47 seconds he had lost on the flat section? The answer is already known: not only did he manage to do so, but he also added another 17 seconds to a Filippo Ganna who was left dismayed, watching another victory slip away from his grasp.

With this triumph, the general classification is clearly in favor of Tadej Pogacar, who now has a lead of more than 2 minutes over his rivals, allowing him to approach the mountains much more conservatively. Now the ball is in their court, as they will have to take risks to look for opportunities to gain time, considering that there is still another long time trial in this 2024 Giro d'Italia that, in theory, should also benefit Tadej Pogacar.

Among all the rivals of the UAE Team Emirates rider, the one who has shown the best sensations is the fabulous Daniel Felipe Martinez, who in his new stage at Bora-Hansgrohe seems to have grown as a cyclist compared to previous seasons. Geraint Thomas raises doubts, as despite the excellent attitude shown by him and his team in the first week, today's stage has left him quite shaken. It remains to be seen what role riders like Uijtdebroeks or Ben O'Connor, who showed great courage in the early days, will play in the mountains.

Stage 7 Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 51'44"
2. Filippo Ganna (INEOS-Grenadiers) +17"
3. Magnus Sheffield (INEOS-Grenadiers) +49"
4. Thymen Arensman (INEOS-Grenadiers) +1'00"
5. Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) +1'05"
6. Antonio Tibeti (Bahrain-Victorious) +1'21"
7. Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) +1'45"
8. Daniel Felipe Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +1'49"
9. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) +1'56"
10. Geraint Thomas (INEOS-Grenadiers) +2'00"

General Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 24h12'36"
2. Daniel Felipe Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2'36"
3. Geraint Thomas (INEOS-Grenadiers) +2'46"
4. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +3'33"
5. Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) +3'42"
6. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) +3'49"
7. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike) +3'50"
8. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +4'11"
9. Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla) +4'41"
10. Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana) +4'44"