Within minutes of losing ground for the first time on this Giro d’Italia in Fossombrone, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was already sitting aboard his time trial bike. He would have used the machine for his warm-down regardless of the result, of course, but now it doubled as a way of parking Saturday’s disappointment and looking forward to the opportunity presented by the stage 9 time trial to Cesena.
After conceding 14 seconds to Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), Tao Geoghegan Hart and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) on the steep slopes of I Cappuccini, Evenepoel returns to the rather friendlier confines of the time trial on Sunday. The 35km course is almost entirely flat and devoid of any real technical difficulties. Raw power and pure aerodynamics will win the day, and Evenepoel scores better than most on each score.
