Ethan Hayter was looking to build into his first Giro d'Italia with Soudal-Quickstep after initially not thinking he would be riding his second Grand Tour. However, that plan was halted in its tracks as stomach problems on the road from Durrës to Tirana on stage 1 saw him drop early during the opening and "struggle to breathe."
The British champion rolled across the line in 179th, 17:23 behind winner Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), with his chances for the stage 2 individual time trial in Albania's capital, in which he would have been an outsider for victory, now looking very slim.
