Giro d'Italia stage 1 - Live coverage

Buongiorno and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 1 of the 2021 Giro d'Italia. 

As the Cyclingnews blimp takes height over Turin, we are less than two hours away from the start of the 2021 Giro d'Italia

We are ready for the first Grand Tour of the season and will bring you full live coverage of every stage, with pre-race build-up, blow by blow live updates and post-race news, reaction and photographs. 

The 2021 Giro d'Italia is set to open with a flat 8.6km time trial - tailor-made for World Champion Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) - on May 8 in Turin. The event takes place entirely within the city, starting at the Piazza Castello, crossing the Po river, and finishing at Corso Moncalieri.

Filippo Tagliani (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) will be the first rider off the starting ramp at 14:00 CET local time. 

The time trial and general classification favourites are scattered throughout the event with Victor Campenaerts (Team Qhubeka Assos) at 14:02, Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) at 15:30, Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep) at 15:43.

Then it's Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo) at 15:58, Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) at 16:07, João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) at 16:29, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) at 16:30, Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) at 16:31, and Jai Hindley (Team DSM) at 16:38. 

Closer to the end of the list are Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) at 16:52, directly followed by World Champion Ganna at 16:53, then Romain Bardet (Team DSM) at 17:01. The last rider off the starting ramp is Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) at 17:03.

Click below to see the full start list.

Giro d'Italia 2021: Stage 1 time trial start times

The riders are already in the centre of Turin and are out studying the course now the roads have been closed to traffic. 

This was Romain Bardet of DSM as hew got his Giro underway.

Here's the AG2R team checking out one of the key corners.

In the last ten day Cyclingnews has created special countdown features on the Giro d'Italia covering every aspect of the race.

Click on the Giro d'Italia hub page below to find them all and so prepare for the Corsa Rosa.

Giro d'Italia hub page

Today is all about the 8.6km high-speed TT around the streets of Turin.

Can anyone beat Filippo Ganna? 

How the GC perform and who will lose time? 

We'll have all the answers as the stage unfolds. 

The Ineos riders did a warm-up in the team car park this morning and each rider will do their own warm-up in the hour before the time trial starts.

Team rosters have been confirmed, and the overall contenders, sprinters, climbers and breakaway artists will be preparing to tackle the first Grand Tour of the season.

With 184 names on the start list, spread across 19 WorldTour teams and four ProTeams, there are plenty of famous faces, in-form riders and riders to watch ready to do battle in Italy. But who will be leading the 23 teams, and what are their main aims over the next three weeks?

We've sifted through every team, picking out their leaders, riders to watch and their main objectives for the Corsa Rosa, outlining the perfect outcome for each squad and what they need to do in order to achieve it. 

Click below for our team by tam guide.

Giro d'Italia 2021: Team-by-team guide

AG2R describe the TT course as "rapide mais relativement technique" - "fast but also quite technical".  

We're really happy to have Matteo Jorgenson blogging from the Giro d'Italia on his Grand Tour debut. 

Click below to read the young American's emotions on riding the Corsa Rosa. 

Matteo Jorgenson blog: I’m at the freaking Giro d’Italia

There's huge curiosity about what Remco Evenepeol can do in the Giro d'Italia.

He hasn't raced since his crash nine months ago at Il Lombardia but his talents and three months of training should mean he is competitive in some way. 

Click below to read our special countdown profile of the Belgian rider. 

Remco Evenepoel: Between stardom and superstardom

Who ever wins this afternoon's time trial, will pull on the maglia rosa, which was first introduced 90 years ago.  

Click below to read about the history and significance of the maglia rosa. 

Giro d'Italia: 90 years of the Maglia Rosa

The sun is out in Turin and will be close to 20C later in the afternoon.

We're just minutes away from the start of the time trial. 

Filippo Tagliani (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) will be the first rider off the starting ramp at 14:00 CET local time.

The early starters have already started their warm-up. 

He's off! The Giro is underway. 

Filippo Tagliani (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) rolls down the start ramp and so the Giro d'Italia is underway. 

The riders are off at 1-minute intervals, so they come thick and fast.  

Italy is recovering from a long second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with restrictions recently eased despite an average of 10,000 cases per day. 

However there are significant crowds along the race route but most are wearing masks and/or respecting social distancing.   

Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos is off too and is likely to set the first fastest time.

The times for the 8.6km course are expected to be around nine minutes.

Victor Campenaerts stays tucked in his aero position, cutting through the fast corners and curves. 

Wow. Dekker passed Tagliani before the finish to set 9:19.

Victor Campenaerts sets 9: 19

That's the same as Dekker but Victor Campenaerts is actually faster due to the hundredths of a second. 

Dekker was just 0.073 of a second slower.

Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) is off and could be fast. 

This is the TT route in central Turin. 

Tejay van Garderen (EF Education-Nippo) sets a time of 9:26, showing the US team's new colours.

Here comes Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) he sets 9:28. 11 seconds off the pace.

This is the stage profile. It's flat and fast. 

Surprise! Roger Kluge uses his sprint lead out skills and track speed to set a new fastest time of 9:17.  

Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) finishes fast and sets 9:14. 

New fastest time!

Situation

1. Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) 9:14. 

2. Roger Kluge (Lotto Soudal) 9:17

3. Victor Campenaerts (Qhubeka Assos) 9:19

4. David Dekker (Jumbo-Visma) 9:19

5. Tejay van Garderen (EF Education-Nippo) 9:26

Bike change needed for LL Sanchez after a flat and a near crash on a corner.  

The Astana rider takes his normal road bike which adds a twist to his ride.

Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) is back and has started his TT.  

It will be an emotional return for the Dutch sprinter. But in an interview with L'Equipe, he said he feels he is ready to fight for victory in the sprints, starting from Sunday's 2nd stage.

Click below to read an extract of the interview.

Groenewegen: I am going to the Giro d'Italia to win a stage

Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka Assos) sets 9: 35.  

Here comes an unhappy LL Sanchez. He sets 10:24. 

Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) starts his TT. He's the current Spanish time trial champion and will be looking to gain time on some GC rivals. 

Caleb Ewan is 43 seconds slower than his lead out man Kluge. 

Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) is fast but not fast enough, setting 9:16. 

Alessandro De Marchi (Israel Start-up Nation) is fast and sets 9:17. That's a good ride by the Italian.  

In our team by team guide, we had Alessandro De Marchi as one of the riders to watch.

Click below to see the full team guide.

Giro d'Italia 2021: Team-by-team guide

Bilbao sets 9:25.

Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal) is underway. He was third overall in 2011 but is now known as the best stage hunter in the peloton.

De Gendt  doesn't seem to be taking any risks in the corners. 

Former U23 world TT champion Samuele Battistella (Astana) sets 9:20. That's a good ride by the young Italian. 

De Gendt sets 9:39.

In other news away from the Giro, Wout van Aert has revealed he is recovering from appendicitis. 

The Amstel Gold Race winner took to social media on Saturday, the day which the Giro d’Italia started, to confirm the news.

Click below to read more. 

Wout van Aert recovering from appendicitis

Matthias Brändle (Israel Start-up Nation) sets 9:09.

New fastest time!   

That's a great ride by the Austrian. 

He rode at an average of 56.4km/h. 

He was 2 seconds slower at the intermediate time check but finished fast.  

Situation

1. Matthias Brändle (Israel Start-up Nation) 9:09

2. Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) 9:14 

3. Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) 9:16

4. Roger Kluge (Lotto Soudal) 9:17

5. Alessandro De Marchi (Israel Start-up Nation) 9:17

Now the GC battle heats up as Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) starts his TT. 

He will be followed by Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo)

Nibali is off ands looks fine on his bike, despite fracturing his wrist just 3 weeks ago.  

Nibali has avoided talking about his GC hopes but he's going full gas in the TT. 

Nibali lost almost a week of training after his crash but then went to altitude and kept working. 

Nibali has explained he longer feels any pain but it will be fascinating to see what he can do and especially if he an be a GC contender.  

Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) sets 9: 11. 

He's second fastest. 

He sets the marker for the GC contenders.

Here's Nibali. He sets 9: 28.

Not bad for the shark after all his problems.

Gianni Moscon is out riding and he's attacking the TT with gusto. 

Situation

1. Matthias Brändle (Israel Start-up Nation) 9:09

2. Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) 9:11

3. Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) 9:14 

4. Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) 9:16

5. Roger Kluge (Lotto Soudal) 9:17

Moscon is 2x Italian national TT champion.

Moscon sets 9:10

He was really close to beating Brandle, just 0.89 of a second slower. 

That is a good sign for his teammate Ganna and an indication the weather conditions are improving due to warmer temperatures and lower air pressure.   

There are some clouds over the course now, that will help the riders go faster.  

Tobias Foss of Jumbo-Visma is on a ride. 

Foss is so fast that he catches his 1-minute man Simon Pellaud (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec).

Foss sets a time of 9:00!

That smashes the times for today. 

He beats Brandle by 9 big fat seconds.

But Remi Cavagni is underway. He's a big favourite for victory.

To learn more about Foss, read our special introducing feature by clicking below.

Introducing: Tour de l’Avenir winner Tobias Foss

Cavagna is 4th fastest at intermediate time split. He will be hoping to go deeper and faster in the final part.  

Colombian TT champion Dani Martinez is out on the course. He could be fast too. 

Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep) sets 9:05 

He faded in the final part.

Situation

1. Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma) 9:00

2. Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep) 9:05 

3. Matthias Brändle (Israel Start-up Nation) 9:09

4. Gianni Moscon (Ineos Grenadiers) 9:10

5. Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) 9:11

This is the scene at the start in Turin. 

23-year-old Foss has never won a pro race but he could now win the TT and take the pink jersey. 

It will perhaps all depend if Ganna can do a ride like last year when he won the world TT tile and then the three Giro time trials. 

Britain's Hugh Carthy of EF starts his TT. He will be looking to limit his losses today.

Foss won the 2019 Tour de l'Avenir and so could be a surprise GC rider this year. He is one to watch. 

Eduardo Affini is also fast for Jumbo-Visma.  

He is three seconds faster than Foss after 3.8km. 

Cavagna went deep but no won for the Frenchman.

Affini sets 8:57

New fastest time!  

That's a great ride by the Italian.

He's not widely know but is a talented timer trialist. 

Affini has some interesting, one support, very narrow aero bars.

Hugh Carthy (EF) sets 9:25

We're seeing more GC riders in action. Pavel Sivakov is in action now.

Affini rode at an average of 57.654 km/h!

British TT national champion Alex Dowsett is also out on the course. 

Sivakov is not super fast at the time split, losing 9 seconds to Foss and Affini after 3.8km  

Here comes Alex Dowsett (Israel Start-Up Nation) but he's off the pace. 

He sets 9: 14 

Here's Affini in action.

And here is Cavagna.

Dutch TT champion and another Jumbo-Visma rider Jos van Emden is out on the TT course. 

Can he go faster than Affini? 

Peter Sagan also starts his ride. 

Giulio Ciccone of Trek also starts as the GC contenders start. 

Egan Bernal will be off in 5 minutes.

Maximilian Walscheid (Qhubeka Assos) could be a threat today. He is a close second after 3.8km.  

Van Emden catches minute-man Cepada. That's an unfair fight but the Colombian will get revenge in the high mountains.

Jos van Emden (Jumbo-Visma) sets 9: 05

That puts him fourth fastest. 

Max Walscheid (Qhubeka Assos) faded in the final kilometres and was 9 seconds slower than Affini. 

Egan Bernal is off. His 2021 Giro begins.

Simon Yates (Bike Exchange) also starts his ride. 

The tifosi are out for Sagan, Ganna and it seems to say hello to grandpa.

Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) starts too. 

The irishman will be looking to limit any losses today.

Joao Almeida (Deceuninck) is also out on the course. 

Almeida is fast at the 3.8km point, just 4 seconds off the pace.

Bernal sets 4:10 at the time split. that's not super fast. 

Yates is on the same pace. 

João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) was a surprise race leader for 2 weeks in 2020. 

He's showing his form again in the TT. 

João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) sets a time of 9:04.

Good time!

Egan Bernal (Ineos) sets 9: 26

That's not bad but not great.  

Simon Yates sets 9: 25 

Yates will be happy to be close to Bernal.

Next off is Alberto Bettiol (EF). 

The Tuscan is an outsider for today.  

The final three kilometres of the TT are vital. 

Here's how Affini brought it home. 

Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) starts his TT. 

He's a real GC threat and not a name to forget. 

George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) goes through the 3.8km time check in a similar time to Bernal and Yates.

Jai Hindey (DSM) finishes in 9:33. 

Bettiol is fast at the 3.8km split. 

He needs something for the final 3km but could be close to Affini.

Marc Soler (Movistar) is about to start, followed by a certain Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep). 

It's Giro di Remco time. Surely the whole of Belgium will be watching.

George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) sets 9: 28

Remco blows out two deep breaths and starts his TT.

Bettiol is fast and sets 9:13.

Not bad but it keeps him within shot of the maglia rosa on the rolling stage 3 to Canale.

Ganna is off!  

He starts his ride and tucks into his aero position to get up to speed. 

Ganna started 1 minute after Evenepoel.

Ganna has a new blue Pinarello TT bike.

Click below to have a look. 

Ganna gets all-new Pinarello TT bike ahead of Giro d'Italia opener

Evenepoel is fast, just 1.9 seconds slower than Affini after 3.8km.

Ganns is even faster! He sets 3:59 for 3.8km. 

The only rider to go below 4:00. 

Ganna dives into every corner to save as much speed as possible. 

He is smashing round a 58 chainring and a huge gear.

Ganna is constantly chasing the police motorbike ahead of him.

Remco Evenepoel sets a time of 9: 06

Marc Soler (Movistar) finished ahead of him in 9:29 

Ganna! 

New fastest time of 8:47

Affini sportingly takes his hat off to his fellow Italian.

Ganna smashed that ride and the time.  

There were doubts about his form after the Tour de Romandie TT but Ganna really wanted that one.

Situation

1. Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) 8:47

2. Eduardo Affini (Jumbo-Visma) 8:57

3. Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma) 9:00

4. João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) 9:04

5. Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep) 9:05 

Mikel Landa (Bahrain) is off the GC rider pace in 9:36

After Ganna's ride and with on other contenders  to start, he surely ha the stage victory wrapped-up. 

He has repeated his win of 2020 and last October in Palermo.

All the riders are out on the course. 

Romain Bardet (Team DSM) sets 9:39.

Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) sets 9:56 and is the last rider home. 

That confirms Ganna as the stage winer and the first race leader of the 201 Giro. 

Yet again Filippo is Top Ganna.  

Ganna's stature allowed him push about 20 watts more than Affini and so go ten second faster. 

Here's Remco Evenepoel at speed. 

Here's Affini, he pushed Ganna close. 

Ganna was happy to take a second opening TT win after last year's success. He felt the pressure. 

"It’s been a lot of time that I wasn’t in the hot seat but I’m here and so I’m really happy," he said on television. 

"After Romandie my mortal was not too high but now its back and I’m really happy." 

Ganna revealed he raced without the team radio. 

"I started with a small radio but I didn’t hear anything, so I told myself to go full gas and listen to the people along the road," he said. 

"If they cheered for me, then I knew I was going fast. That’s how I got this amazing victory." 

Here's Ganna in pink. The tifosi sound happy. 

Thanks to his win Ganna also took the cycalmen points jersey and the best young rider's white jersey.

The blue mountain's jersey was not awarded today. 

To read our full stage report, study the full results and see our growing photo gallery, click below. 

Giro d'Italia: Ganna storms to victory in stage 1 time trial

Ganna now has 14 professional victories on his palmares.

He's won 4 time trials and according to Italian television, that's a better strike rate than a certain Eddy Merckx. 

By winning back to back opening time trials, Ganna has also equalled the feat of Francesco Moser, who did it in 1984 and 1985. Of course, Moser went on to win the 1984 Giro. 

Ganna pulled on the first maglia rosa in 2020 and again today in  2021. 

Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) impressed on his return to racing, finishing seventh in the TT.  

"It meant a lot to be back racing. I was very emotional on the start ramp with some tears in my eyes because it was a special day for me to be back racing," Evenepoel said post stage. 

"I’m proud of my performance, such a time trial isn’t really my speciality, so I’m happy, and it’s great to be back."  

He also sportingly praised Ganna on his win.

"It’s cool to see Filippo Ganna win. We’re friends, we get on well," he said. 

"He’s the world champion and its great to see him win races like this in Italy, he’s a super hero in Italy."

The overall contenders hardly made a dent into the 3,000 plus kilometers in this year’s Giro d’Italia with the opening 8.6km time trial in Turin but the riders vying for the maglia rosa were still scattered throughout the results.

Pre-race favourites such as Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) put in very similar performances on the pan-flat course to finish 39 and 38 seconds behind stage winner Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers). 

The best performance from a GC contender came from one of last year’s revelations, João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep), who finished fourth on the stage with a time of 9:04.

On the flat but technical course, Almeida put two seconds into teammate Remco Evenepoel, who was making his Grand Tour debut, while Astana-Premier Tech leader Aleksandr Vlasov put in a highly credible account of himself to finish 11 seconds down on Almeida. 

Click below to read our first GC analysis after the Turin time trial. 

Giro d'Italia: Which GC riders lost time in the opening time trial

Here's Ganna close-up. 

Those ribs under his skinsuit perhaps help him limit the air turbulence from his torso.

Here's Simon Yates in action in the time trial. He lost 20 seconds to Almeida and Evenepoel but was up there with Bernal and the other GC contenders.  

Remco Evenepoel spoke about his emotional return to racing after finishing  seventh in the TT. 

"It's a nice feeling but at the end, in the finish line, I felt a lot of pain in the legs but that was also quite nice to feel again. In the end, I'm just very proud and happy with my top ten spot already," Evenepoel told reporters at the finish.

Click below to read the full Evenepoel story. 

Remco Evenepoel: I had tears in my eyes after finally returning at Giro d’Italia

Ganna will wear pink during stage 2 on Sunday. 

The 179km stage starts in Stupinigi on the southern edge of Turin, then the riders will initially head south, before turning to the north-east towards the finish town, which is hosting its first stage finish since Eddy Merckx won there during his race-winning debut in the corsa rosa back in 1968.

There’s just one categorised climb on the route, a fourth-category ascent at Montechiaro d’Asti that will put the first rider to cross it in the blue mountains classification jersey. 

Beyond the undulations around the halfway mark, the riders will take the short drop into the Po valley, where there are late intermediate sprints at Tricerro and Vercelli, the road arrowing on towards the finish in Novara.

The 2020 Giro sprints were dominated by Frenchman Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), who won four stages and claimed the cyclamen jersey as points winner but is absent this year.

UAE Team Emirate’s Fernando Gaviria, winner of five Giro stages, Lotto Soudal’s Caleb Ewan, winner of three, and Bora-Hansgrohe’s Peter Sagan, who finished second to Démare on three occasions last year as well as taking a fine solo breakaway win, will lead the foreign challenge, which should also feature in-form Alpecin-Fenix sprinter Tim Merlier.

Facing them will be the best of Italy’s sprinters, including Cofidis’ Elia Viviani, Qhubeka Assos’s European champion Giacomo Nizzolo and Trek-Segafredo’s fast-emerging Matteo Moschetti.

There are six clear opportunities for the sprinters in this climb-heavy Giro, which should ensure the sprinters’ teams won’t pass up this opportunity to grab the stage win they will all be looking for.

Some had perhaps hoped to have a shot at maglia rosa but Ganna's lead should mean he stays in pink on Sunday.  

Thanks for joining us for full live coverage of the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia. 

We'll be back on Sunday for full coverage of stage 2 from Stupinigi to Novara.