Giro d'Italia 2024: Schachmann finishes second in Narvaez victory on opening stage
Thomas Huber
· 04.05.2024
The 140-kilometre opening stage of the Giro d'Italia 2024 came down to a final sprint between the three riders in the lead. Top favourite Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) rode it from the front, but was unable to strike back when Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) overtook him with powerful kicks. The Ecuadorian passed the Slovenian a few metres before the finish and crossed the line just ahead of him. Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), on the other hand, started his sprint quite late. He wasn't quite able to catch Narvaez, but was able to overtake Pogacar. The German confirmed his good form with second place and should be more than satisfied with the result. With the stage win, Jhonatan Narvaez also takes the lead in the overall classification.
Only Schachmann and Narvaez can follow Pogacar
On the final uncategorised climb shortly before the finish, Tadej Pogacar came out of the peloton. At first it seemed as if the attack would fizzle out, but then more and more of the favourites had to let go. Only Jhonatan Narvaez was able to follow the Slovenian. In tandem, they then overtook the leading group, which included Maximilian Schachmann. Although the German had to let a small gap open up in the meantime, he fought his way back in the final metres and ultimately finished on the podium. Meanwhile, numerous classification riders had to bury their hopes of overall victory. Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) and Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), among others, were dropped early on and were unable to keep up with the high pace.
Giro d'Italia 2024: Results - the top 10 of stage 1
- Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) 3:14:23
- Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:00
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +0:00
- Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:06
- Nicola Conci (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:10
- Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:10
- Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:10
- Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:10
- Attila Valter (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:10
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:10
Giro d'Italia 2024: The current standings in the overall standings
- Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) 3:14:13
- Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:03
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +0:06
- Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:16
- Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:17
- Nicola Conci (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:18
- Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:20
- Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:20
- Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:20
- Attila Valter (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:20
How the 1st stage of the Giro d'Italia 2024 went
The Giro d'Italia 2024 kicked off just after Venaria Reale shortly after 2 pm. A hilly stage of around 140 kilometres to Turin awaited the riders. It didn't take long for a six-man lead group to form for the day: Lilian Calmejane (Intermarche-Wanty), Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek), Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF - Faizane) and Louis Barre (Arkea-B&B Hotels) were among those in the group.
UAE Team Emirates controls
The peloton didn't really let the breakaway off the leash, however, with UAE Team Emirates leading the chase and barely allowing the escapees to gain more than three minutes. Meanwhile at the front, Filippo Fiorelli secured the first mountain points as well as the first intermediate sprint classification.
At the Superga, where Ghebreigzabhier secured the mountain points, Calmejane and the Eritrean then made off together. From then on, they rode two abreast, with the remaining riders gradually being caught by the peloton. With a lead of around one and a half minutes over the peloton, the leaders entered the Colle Maddalena.
Death of favourites at Colle Maddalena
There, UAE Team Emirates stepped up the pace again: not only was Ghebreigzabhier quickly caught, leaving Calmejane alone at the front, but some riders in the peloton were now in trouble: Thymen Arensman, Romain Bardet and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), among others, had to let go. The mountain points went to Calmejane, who will go into stage 2 with the mountain jersey.
With 15 kilometres to go, Maximilian Schachmann initiated an attack out of the peloton. This allowed seven riders around Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious), Nicola Conci (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Schachmann to break away and catch up with Calmejane.
Concis Solo remains unsuccessful
It was Conci who took advantage of an inattention in the leading group seven kilometres before the finish and broke away as a soloist. In the meantime, he had a 20-second lead over his pursuers, and the peloton still had a chance of winning the stage, 40 seconds behind.
On the final climb, Tadej Pogacar took the lead with Jhonatan Narvaez on his wheel. Of the breakaway riders, only Maximilian Schachmann was able to follow the duo. In the final sprint of the trio, Narvaez took the stage win and the pink jersey, Schachmann finished second, while Pogacar had to settle for third place.
