A re-examination of the split times from the opening time trial of the Giro d’Italia saw Tao Geoghegan Hart hastily assigned the maglia azzurra of best climber minutes before the start of stage 2 in Teramo. That cosmetic adjustment aside, however, the key verdict of the race’s opening test remained unchanged: Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) is the man to beat on this Giro.
Still, even though Evenepoel’s hefty advantage from Saturday evening remained the same on Sunday morning, the initial shock and awe that greeted his finishing time had seemed to soften slightly among his rivals overnight. The emotions of this race can understandably lead to snap judgements, but its sheer difficulty demands perspective.
