Following three days of sprints, the first GC-focussed day at the Giro d'Italia Women brought a huge change in the general standings as Anna van der Breggen rolled back the years to soar into the race lead.
The Dutchwoman's flying effort on Nevegal saw he make major time on all her maglia rosa rivals, with Marlen Reusser, second on the day, now her closest competitor at 1:04 down.
Movistar leader Reusser is the reigning world time trial champion, but she more than met her match in Van der Breggen in her first race back from a spinal fracture suffered at the Tour of Flanders.
Interestingly, she had opted for a different strategy than her rivals for the 12.7km stage, which saw a flat opening 5km followed by a 7.7km ascent to the finish.
Reusser, like Elisa Longo Borghini, who lost over two minutes, raced the entire time trial on a road bike, whereas Van der Breggen, new third-place Demi Vollering, and others went for a time trial bike.
She refused to blame her equipment choice for her time loss, though, instead saying that she "missed the moment" to really push during her effort.
"I had doubts about my TT, so I was thinking I had to leave [the hot seat]," Reusser said after the stage.
"I think I missed the moment to go really deep today. I just felt too good. I really missed the moment. I think it was way too easy TT. Not so good from my side. I don't know.
"Also, a minute that Anna is faster is a lot. Chapeau. Really good performance."
Reusser, who last year won the world time trial title with a 51-second gap to Van der Breggen in the hills of Kigali, said that there are always doubts about bike choice if you end up losing a mountain time trial like this.
However, she couldn't say whether her racing on a road bike was a major factor in her shedding time to Van der Breggen today.
"If you're slower, then of course you think you should have chosen the other bike, so when I was watching, I was like 'Aaaagh, I should have chosen the other bike.' It's always easy later to say 'It's because of this or this.'
"I don't know. I think I did a good, but not really good, TT. Maybe it was smarter to go with the TT bike, but I wouldn't say 'If I have the TT bike, I win', so I don't know."
Reusser, Vollering (six seconds further back on GC), Longo Borghini (ninth at 1:51) and the other Giro GC contenders will have their chances to make up the deficit to Van der Breggen in the days to come, not least the queen stage up and over the Colle delle Finestre.
Reusser, who made a beeline to hug and congratulate her former teammate after her interview, laughed when asked if the result would make her hungrier to succeed in the mountains.
"I don't know," she concluded. "Normal hungry."
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our Giro d'Italia Women coverage. Don't miss any of the breaking news, reports, and analysis from one of the biggest women's stage races of the season. Find out more.
