Giro d'Italia

Friday brought the longest Giro d’Italia individual time trial in the last nine years, 40.6 kilometers from Foligno to Perugia, where a steep kicker towards the end promised to complicate matters and widen the gaps between the general classification contenders. It was maybe the most important test of the race so far, a test that could easily be split in two completely different parts: a 34km flat one featuring just a couple of tricky corners and the 6km climb that started in the outskirts of Perugia, which averaged 4.2% but included some nasty double-digit gradients in the opening kilometer.

Josef Cerny, a multiple national champion of the discipline, was among the first riders to roll down the start ramp, and the experienced Czech didn’t disappoint. Cerny set the benchmark at both intermediate checkpoints while catching his minute-man, before taking on the hard ascent, where he still had enough left in the legs to record the best provisional time, 54:50, thanks to an impressive 44.4km/h average speed. Josef went on to finish the stage won by Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) as the best placed Soudal Quick-Step rider.

“Today was quite windy. I had some crosswinds in the first part and had to push there, and then I was a bit on the limit on the climb. Overall, the parcours was a beautiful one, but that demanding ascent was a bit too much for me. I am content with my effort and hope for an even better outing in the second ITT of the race”, Josef said after the stage which saw his countryman Jan Hirt remain the team’s highest-ranked rider in the general classification.

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