Astana's Lopez 4th in opening TT, takes white jersey, Giro d'Italia, Stage 1
"I am happy with the way I did this time trial. Together with the team we worked a lot on TT races and today all this work paid off. It was a good start for me. I knew the final climb pretty well from the Giro dell'Emilia and I knew what to expect in today's race. Together with our directors and trainers we did a good plan for the race and I tried to follow it. It worked out perfectly. Also, I am very happy to take the white jersey immediately after the first stage. That's really nice! Today, I did the individual time trial on my new E-118 Pro TT bike, made by Argon 18. It is an amazing bike and today it has been proved by my performance. So, the race has started and we have full three weeks in this Giro. We are ready for the race," said Miguel Angel Lopez.
The 102nd edition of the Giro d'Italia has begun with a very nice individual time trial of 8 km with a start in the historical heart of Bologna and the finish on the top of the famous climb San Luca. Because of a bad forecast, many favorites decided to start the race early, thus Miguel Angel Lopez was one of the first riders to start and to finish. Astana's leader did a very solid race, finishing with the best intermediate time - 13 minutes and 22 seconds. Finally, only three riders could pass him: the Slovenian Primoz Roglič won the stage and took the first pink jersey of 2019 edition, Simon Yates became second (+0.19) and Vincenzo Nibali did third (+0.23), Astana Pro Team's official website reads.
Another Astana Pro Team rider Pello Bilbao also did a good race and finished 11th, 42 seconds behind the stage winner.
Tomorrow, the Giro d'Italia will continue with the second stage: 205 km from Bologna to Fucecchio.