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During the final sprint of the first stage of the Giro d'Italia, the fallen Caleb Ewan can only look after the winner Mathieu van der Poel
Photo: BERNADETT SZABO / REUTERS
The Dutch professional cyclist Mathieu van der Poel has won the start of the 105th Giro d'Italia.
The 27-year-old from the Alpecin-Fenix team beat Biniam Girmay from Eritrea in a thrilling finish after 195 kilometers from Budapest to Visegrád and thus also took over the pink jersey of the overall leader.
None of the eleven German drivers ended up in the top 10, but Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) was convincing on the final five-kilometer climb in 16th place, four seconds behind the winner.
Teammate Lennard Kämna bravely attacked at the end, but was caught 800 meters from the finish.
In the final sprint, van der Poel demonstrated his top form.
The Dutchman won the Tour of Flanders in early April.
The finale was overshadowed by the fall of Australian sprint star Caleb Ewan, who fell in a promising position.
The 27-year-old has already won five stages of the Giro and the Tour de France.
Italian escapees lead long
An Italian duo caused a stir for large parts of the first stage of the second most important national cycling tour after the Tour de France: Mattia Bais and Filippo Tagliani from Team DRA temporarily gained a lead of more than ten minutes, but were caught just under 14 kilometers from the finish.
The start of the Giro, the Grande Partenza, was awarded to Hungary for the first time.
And that, although only five Hungarian drivers took part in the traditional race, most recently Marton Dino last year.
At the beginning of the stage there was a curious scene: While excited fans usually ran screaming next to their idols on their bicycles, this time it was five riders of the Royal Hungarian Guard.
They tried to keep up with the peloton on a by-path, but soon had to heave to.
Last year's winner Egan Bernal was unable to take part in the race after his serious accident at the end of January in Colombia, where he crashed into a parked bus during a training session.
The 25-year-old was in intensive care for days and it was unclear if he would survive.
Instead, his team will start with Richard Carapaz, who is also considered a favourite, and who was able to secure sixth place on the first stage.
The first of two individual time trials is on the program on Saturday, but the nine kilometers through Budapest shouldn't result in large gaps in the overall classification.
The trip to Hungary ends on Sunday with the stage from Kapsovar to Balatonfüred, before things get serious on the fourth stage in Italy and climb Mount Etna – the highest active volcano in Europe.
The Giro ends after 3410 km on May 29th in Verona.
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