Giro d'Italia stage 1 - Live coverage

Buongiorno and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 1 of the 2022 Giro d'Italia.

We're in Budapest for the 195km opening road stage from the Hungarian capital to the Visegrád citadel. 

The riders are signing on in and will soon line-up for the stage start.

The opening stage of the 2022 Giro d'Italia ends on the 5.6km climb to Visegrad citadel, with riders traversing a gradual but twisting road. 

It's a tempting stage for the sprinters and finesseurs but also offers a host of other riders a rare chance of winning the open stage and taking the first race leader's maglia rosa.

The 195km Giro d'Italia stage 1 is flat, so it will all be about the rising finish. It is finely balanced, tempting the sprinters but also offering more aggressive riders a chance. 

Do the likes of Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) have a chance? 

Or will Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) or Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) use their Classics positioning skills, aggression and fast finish to steal the glory?

We will find out during our live coverage.

Cyclingnews reporters Barry Ryan and Alasdair Fotheringham are at the start area in Budapest, chasing the latest news and interviews. 

The sun is out and the weather is warm as the riders begin to roll out of the start area.

The riders face a 12.4km neutralised ride before the stage starts.

The riders are tucked in behind the race director's black car, enjoying the start of another three-week Grand Tour and the cheers from the large crowds. 

Buon Giro a tutti! 

Thomas de Gendt is up front near the director's car. Will he go in the early break today so that Lotto Soudal do not need to work on the front for Caleb Ewan? 

The riders appear relaxed with only one puncture in the neutralised sector and lots of riders stopping for natural breaks. 

The riders are fresh and ready to race after the Grande Partenza countdown in Budapest.

The teams arrived on Monday and Tuesday and have been taperring their riding to be at the best for three weeks of intense racing.

Lots goes on at the stage starts. 

Romain Bardet was awarded a special UNESCO prize for fair play for stopping  during Liege-Bastogne-Liege to help Julian Alaphilippe after his crash.

195km to go

They're off! 

Race director Stefano Allocchio waves the flag and the 2022 Giro d'Italia is officially underway. 

And we have the first attack! 

Two Drone Hopper riders have surged away. They are Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani. 

The peloton does not seem too worried and has let them go. 

190km to go

The two attackers already have a gap of 1:45. 

The peloton seems happy to roll along and let the attackers open a significant lead. 

Riders are chatting with friends, catching-up with fellow countrymen from different teams and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. 

185km to go

This is a very tranquillo start to the Giro. 

The two attackers now lead the gruppo by 3:20. 

The first part of the 195km stage is on the M6 highway, so on wide, smooth roads. 

The local crowds are filling the bridges to watch the race go by. 

It is the first time and Grand Tour has started in Hungary and the 14th time the Giro has started outside of il Bel Paese.  

Hometown hero Attila Valter is one of three Hungarian riders in the race. 

The others are Erik Fetter (Eolo-Kometa) and Barnabás Peák (Intermarché-Wanty_Gobert). 

Valter got a huge cheer at the start, with the local fans recognising him.

The Groupama-FDJ rider featured prominently in the early stages of last year's Giro, making a name for himself by defending the pink jersey with honour. 

Valter knows the climb to the finish and spoke about it in detail in our special stage preview. 

"It's really hard to say who will win the stage, even though I've done it quite a lot of times," Valter explained.

"I think it depends a lot on the weather. If there's a headwind, it's a big advantage for the sprinters because the group can't go so fast. Even if they push on the front, the sprinters can stay on the wheel, so I think there are many scenarios.

"The team has two scenarios: If Arnaud hangs on, then I will help him. It's much better to have someone who can win a stage, because if it's a headwind with a big bunch, I will have a hard job. I'm fast but I'm fast from a group of maybe ten guys, not from a bunch to beat people like Arnaud and Mathieu van der Poel.

Click below to read the full stage preview. 

Preview: Giro d'Italia finish at Visegrad citadel offers double glory

175km to go

Wow. The peloton has allowed the attackers to open a 7:30 lead and are still not chasing.

Surely the teams hoping to win the stage will soon start to chase. 

It is surely up to Alpecin-Fenix to inspire a chase. There are some mind games going on between the teams. 

The race is into the Hungary countryside but there is little or no wind today and so little risk of crosswinds and echelons.  

Here are the attackers: Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper).  

165km to go

Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Happer) have extended their lead to 11:00.  

Finally, behind the Alpecin-Fenix team have started to lead the peloton.

The peloton is almost 8km behind the attackers. 

Senne Leysen is leading the peloton for Alpecin, his lift in speed lining out the peloton.

This was the roll out from Budapest. 

It's great to see the 19-year-old Ukraine national champion Andrii Ponomar at the Giro.

Back in the race, Richard Carapaz is at the back of the peloton after taking a natural break. He is escorted by Ineos teammate Ben Swift.

Riders are dropping back to team cars to collect bidons.  We can see Chris Jensen load up for BikeExchange.

150km to go

The race turns off the highway and is riding towards the intermediate sprint. 

Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper) lead by 8:45, with Alpecin leading the chase.   

Intermarche are also helping with the chase now, with Team DSM lined-out behind the Intermarche and Alpecin rider.

Here are the two attackers Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper). 

The peloton has pulled the two attackers back to 8:00 as they pass through the feed zone in Vereb. 

The intermediate sprint is just 20km away.  

Joao Almeida waves. He's always cool and collected but will have to be careful in the hectic finish today. 

"Today’s finish is going to be very fast," Almeida told Cyclingnews' Alasdair Fotheringham at the start. 

"We’ll see how it goes. For sure the sprinters will ride and go for it. If I don’t lose time it’ll be a good day for me." 

We're 10km from the intermediate sprint.

The peloton is gradually pulling back Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper). 

Rein Taaramäe (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and Senne Leysen (Alpecin-Fenix) re leading the chase at the head of the peloton.

Here's the intermediate sprint in Székesfehérvár. 

Filippo Tagliani leads Drone Hopper teammate Mattia Bias over the line.  

While there are usually two intermediate sprints per stage, only one also awards bonus seconds as well as points. 

Today it is the second sprint in Esztergom, with 27.5km to go. 

115km to go

Nizzolo leads the peloton over the intermediate sprint line.  

The fight for the ciclamino points jersey inspired a short sprint with Groupama leading it out and QuickStep there too but the Israel rider was faster and had a clear run.    

The peloton is closing the gap and it is down to 5:00. 

Nizzolo scored 6 points for his efforts.

How steady is it riding the peloton? Here are the numbers for Carapaz. 

He's hardly pedaling. 

110km to go

The lead of Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper) is down to 4:30. 

Their dreams of victory fading with every second lost. 

105km to go

EF have sent up Julius van den Berg to help the peloton chase the attackers. 

Mark Cavendish stops for a bike change.

Cavendish didn't seem to have a flat but clearly wanted to change bikes.

100km to go

Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper) are working hard out front but their lead is still falling as they ride across the flat Hungary countryside.

Cavendish is riding back to the peloton via the long line of team cars. 

Fernando Gaviria is the next sprinter at the back of the pack. 

The pace is so steady today that he may be a little bored and keen for a tactical chat with his DS. 

The Giro has started but there are over 3300km left to race. 

90km to go

The break pushes on but their lead is down to below 3:00 now. 

Ooops. There's a tumble for Nico Prudhomme as he took his feed musette. 

He's okay and riding again but perhaps a bit sore. 

There's a slight cross wind blowing from the rider's right. The riders on the front are forcing the others into the left side of the road.

80km to go

The peloton seems to now be playing cat and mouse with the attackers. 

They have pegged the gap to 3:00. 

Cyclingnews offers the best coverage of the Giro d'Italia and the best build-up to the race. 

We again produced special countdown features on the Giro for the ten days before the start. 

We started with our Essential preview written by Barry Ryan, who is will again cover all the Corsa Rosa on the ground for Cyclingnews. 

Giro d’Italia 2022 – The Essential Preview

A total of 176 riders from 22 different teams will take part in the 105th edition of the Giro d'Italia, targeting stage victories, overall success, the different classifications jerseys and moments of personal glory and career memories.  

This is the Cyclingnews team-by-team guide.

Giro d'Italia 2022 - Comprehensive team-by-team guide

Mark Cavendish returns to the Giro d’Italia after a nine-year hiatus and Barry Ryan looked back to his previous visits and his many stage wins.

Finishing school - Mark Cavendish and the Giro d'Italia

70km to go

Back to today's race and Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper) are still pushing on in their moment of glory out front. 

Rein Taaramäe (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Senne Leysen (Alpecin-Fenix) and Julius van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) continue to swap off on the front, with Team DSM lined-out behind them. They're staying up front to protect GC leader Romain Bardet.  

The roads are rolling slightly as they head north towards the border with Slovakia and the Danube river. 

Giacomo Nizzolo has dropped back to the team car but the speed is so steady in the peloton that he easily returns to the peloton.  

There has not been much action so far in the stage but the crowds have been huge along the roadside. 

Hungary has opened is arms to the Corsa Rosa.  

65km to go

With the 9.2km time trial on stage 2 on Saturday, several teams have new time trial bikes. 

Hot on the heels of BMC, who launched a new Speedmachine time trial bike with Red Bull Advanced Technologies; and Colnago who launched its wild-looking prototype TT1, Wilier has unveiled its entry into the competition of best time trial bike released this week.  

Click below for the full story on Cyclingnews.

Wilier Turbine SLR: A new climber's TT bike to debut at Giro d'Italia

We will have a special time trial preview later today.

Our Cyclingnews live updates have all the details of the racing and the best post-stage reaction and analysis. 

However if you want to watch the racing, click below to find out how to watch the Giro d'Italia via TV or a live stream, no matter your location, with ExpressVPN.

How to watch the 2022 Giro d'Italia – Live streaming

50km to go

The lead of Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper) is down to 1:10 with 50km to go. 

We will perhaps see the peloton hold them at that gap until the final kilometres.

While the peloton cruises along, Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani of Drone Hopper are making a huge effort. 

They have been out front since the flag dropped, 145km ago.

They will need a good massage after the stage.  

The crowds have been mazing in Hungary today. 

There's a real party atmosphere along the roadside.

Cyclingnews has covered all the big-rider pre-Giro press conferences in the last few days. 

Mathieu van der Poel is the logical favourite for today's uphill finish. He has the power, speed and aggression to win.

"It won't be easy to get the pink jersey, but I'm going for it," he said.

"We rode the finish and the final climb. It's certainly not easy. It's like the opening stage in the Tour last year and then I didn't win it.

"It's really steep. There are a lot of advantages to staying in the bunch. It will be difficult to attack there and difficult to drop sprinters like Caleb Ewan. We'll see who has the best legs to win the sprint." 

Van der Poel and his Alpecin-Fenix teammates are racing in a unique 'verde comodoro' jersey. 

Click below to read the full story on van der Poel

Alpecin-Fenix unveil special jersey at Giro d'Italia presentation - Gallery

In our special stage preview, we suggested today's uphill finish is like ending Milan-San Remo atop the Poggio but with a rare Corsa Rosa double of stage and leader's jersey up for grabs. 

So far the stage has been a slow burner to say the least but we expect a Milan-San Remo crescendo finish. 

Indeed,  the tension is riding in the peloton as the time gap to the break falls to below a minute.

Mark Cavendish is at the back of the peloton. He has a hole in his shorts but does not seem to have crashed. 

He spots the TV camera and holds up a V with 2 fingers. Will it be a V for victory?  

We'll find out very soon.

The peloton has let Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper) sweep up the bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint. 

None of the sprinters in the peloton fought for the final 1-second bonus. 

20km to go

The pace is higher now and the peloton can see the attackers as they follow the banks of the Danube river.

The teams are trying to move up their leaders and sprinters to the front of the pack.

The teams are packed across the road.

Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper) are refusing to give up but will soon be swallowed up like a whale eating little fish.

Mark Cavendish is still sat at the back of the peloton and so perhaps won't try to contest the finish. 

15km to go

And 10km to the foot of the climb. 

The 195km Giro d'Italia stage 1 is all be about the rising finish. 

Do the likes of Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) have a chance? 

Or will Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) or Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) use their Classics positioning skills, aggression and fast finish to steal the glory?

Overall contenders like Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco), Richard Carapaz (Inoes Grenadiers) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) will have to be focused and well placed to ensure they do not lose any seconds to their faster-finishing rivals.

Gruppo compatto! 

Mattia Bias and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper) have been caught. 

It's uphill sprint time!

The first part of the climb is in the valley at a gentle 2.6% but a hairpin bed with four kilometres to go will be a vital pinch point, with the road suddenly kicking up the hillside at 8%. Anyone caught out of position here could pay for it massively. Some pure sprinters may already have eased up and thrown in the towel, too.

Two kilometres of climbing at 5% follow, with several other corners, until the road sweeps past the Visegrad citadel. The gradient continues upwards for another kilometre, only flattering out for the finish line, with the sprint finishing off the riders' huge effort on the sweeping, climbing road.

The GC contenders will also have to fight to hold position and avoid gaps in the peloton.

A one-second time gap in the peloton at the finish line can result in far bigger gaps in the results. There are also time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds awarded to the first three riders on the stage. 

Stage 1 is not considered to be a sprint stage and riders will not be awarded the same time as the group they were in if they crash inside the final three kilometres.

10km to go

The speed is close to50km along the Danube river.

This will be a thriller. So much could happen in the final 5km.  

DSM are on the right, Lotto on the left and EF down the middle.

QuickStep will perhaps ride for Davide Ballerini in the absence of Cavendish.

Groupama are also there up front for Demare.

This is the climb to the finish.

Crash! 

Several riders touch wheels and go down. 

One riders is Vanhoucke of Lotto. 

The road is wide, allowing other teams to move up from the back. 

5km to go

The climb starts on the valley road, at 2%. 

Boom! 

Here come Alpecin for van der Poel.

Alpecin have 5 riders on the front.

Carapaz and other GC riders are just behind them. 

The peloton sweeps through the left turn. 

The climb kicks up here.  

It's a fight for position.

Lawrence Naesen tries to go solo. 

3km to go

Naesen is the rider to chase.  Ineos control for now.

2km to go

Naesen leads by 8 seconds. 

Crash!

Several riders are down and others are blocked.

Kamna attacks and goes past Naesen. 

Nice move!

Ballerini went down in the crash.

1km to go

Kamna has a gap! 

But they can see him.

Who will jump first?

Intermarche are chasing for Girmay.

UAE close down Kamna. 

Ewan is there! 

There are 70 riders in the group. 

Ewan seems in control. 

Sprint!

Mathieu van der Poels wins it! 

He is the also the first race leader and maglia rosa of the Giro. 

In the final 100m MvdP went shoulder to shoulder with Girmay and edged clear to win. 

Caleb Ewan was up there but a touch lead him to crash hard. 

Ewan seemed to ride into Girmay's wheel, sparking his crash.

The results confirm that van der Poel beat Girmay. 

Pello Bilbao was third and Magnus Cort fourth. 

Van der Poel came past Giramy in the final 50 metres.

This is our first shot of the sprint and Ewan's crash.

van der Poel started the sprint a little too far back but followed the wheels and then timed his final effort perfectly.  

There were definitely some gaps in the riders and so time gap in the GC.

Van der Poel rides towards the podium. 

He will soon pull on pink as the first race leader.

We have more great photos of the finish. 

This is the moment MvdP edge clear to win the stage.

This is a shot of Ewan as he got up from his crash to ride to the finish. 

The GC is still tight but Richard Carapaz and Wilco Kelderman gained 4 secs on others GC riders. 

Van der Poel is on the podium to celebrate his stage win. 

Opps. As he opens the spumante, the cork hits him on the head. 

Van der Poel admitted the sprint had been harder than he expected. 

"I knew positioning would be the key to win today. It was a bit difficult sometimes I got boxed in a few times on the final climb and it cost a lot of energy to catch the guys in front of me," he said. 

"In the final, I just launched my sprint and it was pretty close because the legs were full of lactate. But I'm really happy."

Van der Poel only knew he'd win when he looked up and saw the finish line. 

"Just on the finish line. It was going to be difficult to drop the sprinters but of course it was for them, as well, the climb. I knew I had a good chance but it really hurt."

Van der Poel adds a maglia rosa to his yellow jersey from last year's Tour de France. 

"It's incredible, to wear the yellow jersey and now the pink... Now we will see what the time trial brings tomorrow. I'm gonna try again, for sure, it will be difficult but I'm going to try." 

Here's another sprint photo. Van der Poel put down huge raw power. 

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

Giro d'Italia: Van der Poel wins crash-marred uphill sprint in Visegrád, takes first maglia rosa

Cyclingnews' Barry Ryan spoke to him after the stage and will have the full story on his Giro debut.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) is the first leader of the 2022 Giro d'Italia after prevailing in a chaotic run to the line on the hilltop finish in Visegrád, Hungary.

We've analysed the stage results to see which of the GC contenders lost time. There were a few.

GC men Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe), Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) made the right side of a split to finish inside the top seven, the trio now at 10 seconds to Van der Poel.

In the next group came the bulk of the GC favourites, who end the day classified at 14 seconds – four behind Kelderman, Carapaz, and Mollema.

They included Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Vincenzo Nibali, Miguel Angel López (Astana Qazaqstan), Romain Bardet (Team DSM), Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco), Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost).

Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) and Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) shed a few seconds more.

For more info on the GC standings, click our story below. 

Giro d'Italia: GC standings after stage 1

The opening stage of the 2022 Giro d'Italia went from promising to disaster for Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) when he touched wheels with Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert) and crashed.

Click below for that story.

Ewan crashes out of contention in Giro d'Italia opener

The opening stage started in Budapest with a real party atmosphere.  

Click below for the special photo gallery Laura Weislo created. 

Budapest hosts spectacle in pink for Giro d'Italia start - Gallery

This was van der Poel's most dangerous moment of the day. 

Before the start of stage 1 in Budapest, Romain Bardet (Team DSM) was presented with an award by the International Committee for Fair Play for sacrificing his ride in Liège-Bastogne-Liège to give aid to World Champion Julian Alaphilippe, who had crashed down an embankment.

Click below to read the full story

Bardet given award for helping Alaphilippe in Liège-Bastogne-Liège crash

We love this shot of MvdP.

It was a successful and colourful day for the Dutchman.

After the long ride out of Budapest and the adrenaline rush of the uphill finish near the Visegrad citadel, the Giro d'Italia returns to the capital for Saturday's 92.km stage 2 time trial.  

The city-centre course includes 20 corners and will be a test for new race leader Mathieu van der Poel and spark more time gaps amongst the overall contenders.

The TT also kicks up on the cobbled streets of Budapest. 

While short, with a few sharp turns and a climb at its finish, the route is reasonably technical, so it’s hard to predict outcomes. The likes of João Almeida, Alex Dowsett, Mattia Cattaneo or even Luis Leon Sanchez could spring a surprise while the GC contenders are likely to work hard to ensure they do not give away precious seconds to their rivals so early in the competition.

Click below for our stage preview. 

Alasdair Fotheringham will also have a special time trial preview feature later.   

Giro d'Italia 2022 - Stage 2 preview

Thanks again for joining our full stage live coverage. 

These are the stage 1 results created by our friends at First Cycling.

It's time for our Aperol spritz and aperitivo.  

Patrick Fletcher will be back with full live coverage of stage 2 on Saturday, while Alasdair Fotheringham and Barry Ryan will have exclusive news and reaction from today's stage and a special stage 2 time trial preview. 

Ciao Girini!