Mathieu van der Poel almost won the first stage of the Tour of Italy on Friday in Budapest. He was invited to wear the pink leader’s jersey on his first appearance at the event.
In the first of three stages contested in Hungary, the Dutchman from the Alpecin-Fenix team defeated Eritrean Biniam Girmay after a wild sprint.
Pello Bilbao (ESP/Bahrain) finished the 195 km stage in third position.
I have never done a sprint like before, I am at a limit, Girmay (ERI / Intermarché) admitted. I’m really happy with this result. Van der Poel is the strongest today, but I will try again on Sunday.
The only Canadian to register for this Tour of Italy, Alexander Cataford (Israel-Premier Tech), finished the peloton in 70th place, 52 seconds from the pink jersey.
Australian Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) suffered a horrific fall in the final sprint, about 200 meters from the finish, after attaching the tire to Girmay’s back.
Two riders of the Team Drone Hopper led the stage for most of the day after launching a breakaway shortly after the start.
Italians Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani were able to widen the gap to 11 minutes before being caught.
They were swallowed up by a peloton just under 14km, and the speed suddenly kicked into a notch in the 5km climb towards the finish line.
The second stage on Saturday was an individual time test on the streets of the Hungarian capital. Some slopes located in the early 9 km course reach a slope level of 14%.
The Tour of Italy will run until May 29.
After two years of waiting, Hungary has finally accepted a first major cycling competition on its territory.
Source: Radio-Canada
