Three and a bit days into this Giro d’Italia, and, as we expected, it already feels like Tadej Pogačar’s to lose. He has gained time on every stage so far, including decisive gaps on stage two to Oropa. He is comfortably in the pink jersey of the race leader, with 46 seconds over Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers). It is tempting to declare it race over already, to suggest that the GC battle is done, but that’s not how Grand Tour racing works. There are still 19 days to go.
Another GC rider might kick straight into defence mode, but that is not Pogačar’s style, as we have already seen this week. For the rest of the peloton, stage three was a nailed-on sprint day, but not for the UAE Team Emirates rider, hence his late surge to the line. He is the only rider you can really imagine trying to win every stage, just because.
