Josef Černý could be satisfied with his performance (archive photo)
Andrew Medichini, ČTK / AP
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Černý, who starts his second Grand Tour after his premiere on Giro last year, was surpassed only by one of the favorites for the overall championship, Brit Geraint Thomas and Nor Tobias Foss.
Another of the British adepts Simon Yates started the Giro with 17th place, losing 49 seconds to Gann and Thomas to 26. The two-time winner of the race, Italian Vincenzo Nibali, had to settle for 69th place with a deficit of one and a half minutes for the leading compatriot.
Great! The Czech biker finished third in the World Championships. Tvarůžková took seventh place
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Ganna flew the track at an average speed of 58,831 km / h, setting a new time record for Gira, with the exception of prologues. He was just behind the performance of Belgian Rik Verbrugghe, who reached an average speed of 58.874 km / h in a seven-kilometer prologue in 2001 in Pescara.
“I knew I was a favorite, but I tried to stay calm,” Ganna said. “It worked and it’s a great result. I’m excited to ride my first Giru in a pink jersey. It’s a good sign for the rest of the race,” he praised himself.
The competitors were also bothered by the wind. “It was blowing, but I felt good on the bike,” said Tour de France champion Thomas last year. “Maybe I whistled a little at the beginning, my legs haven’t driven much for the last two kilometers. But it’s not bad,” he added.
A sad ending for Lopez
After nine kilometers, the Giro for Colombian Miguel Ángel López ended. The sixth man in the recent Tour de France ran into an uneven road, lost control of his bike and crashed into safety barriers. He does not repeat the third place last year in the overall ranking.
The Italian race, which was postponed from the usual spring term due to coronavirus, continues on Sunday with the second stage from Alcam to Agrigento, 149 km long.
| Giro d’Italia – 1. etapa (časovka Monreale – Palermo, 15.1 km): |
| 1. Ganna (It./Ineos Grenadiers) 15:24 |
| 2. Almeida (Portug./Deceuninck-Quick Step) -22 |
| Mountain (Dan. / SAE Team Emirates) -22 |
| 4. Thomas (Brit./Ineos Grenadiers) -23 |
| 5. Foss (Nor./Jumbo-Visma) -31 |
| 6. Black (Czech Republic / CCC) -36 |
| 7. Overcoat (It./NTT) -40 |
| 8. Craddock (USA/EF Pro Cycling) -41 |
| 9. Scotson (Austr./Groupama-FDJ) -42 |
| 10. Brändle (Rak./Israel Start-Up Nation) -42 |
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