Not everyone wants to be a troupe. Not everyone is going to be satisfied with simply accompanying you. For some, it is not enough to be mere spectators. They are not nobodies. Not everyone leaves the Giro exhausted beforehand. And that rebellious spirit was personified by the resistance of Jhonatan Narváez, the Ecuadorian champion who twisted and his heart almost came out of his mouth to weld himself to the wheel of Tadej Pogacar’s announced attack, which obviously arrived, as it was written, but It didn’t end as everyone expected. The first pink jersey of 2024 did not go to the great favorite to wear it in Rome.
The UAE leader first topped the Bivio di San Vito, the very steep hill at the gates of Turin, but he was not alone. Surprise. Pegados carried Narváez and Schachmann (Bora), who were his shadow on the descent towards the capital of Piedmont. No one else, it is true, could withstand the hard drift of the Slovenian, who almost skidded in the curves of that last climb, who sneaked in wherever he could to overtake the escapees who were ahead, who also wanted to surprise him from afar.
They were two uncomfortable traveling companions. And in the last straight they surpassed him in the sprint for the stage. Both the Ecuadorian and the German were faster at the finish line. Narváez, who likes the classics and who is good at racing in Italy – he already won a stage in the 2020 Giro, that of Tao – left him without a prize, without the pink for which he had worn out his team. That impatience took away opportunities for the Slovenian, who started the sprint early and was beaten.
Pogacar did not have the triumphant debut that Van der Poel did in 2022 and Evenepoel did last year. They did fulfill the saying of Veni, vedi, vici. Pogacar found a reply.
The Giro wanted to pay tribute to the Grande Torino, on the 75th anniversary of the Superga tragedy. The platoon passed by the site of the accident that ended the lives of that legendary football team. When they were not playing well and were behind on the scoreboard, Valentino Mazzola rolled up his shirt. It was the signal for all of his colleagues to step up, to give something extra. It was his way of saying “we’re getting serious.” Something like this happened, a little further on, on Colle Maddalena when Pogacar said that’s it. Bjerg, with his tongue hanging out, and Majka gave gas and left the peloton emaciated. They discovered the weaknesses of Arensman and Bardet, two of those who arrived with aspirations of standing up to Pogacar, who this Saturday could not win his first stage but who on Sunday will want to get rid of the thorn in the Sanctuary of Oropa.
