Giro opener: Evenepoel in his own league - setback for Kämna

Professional cyclist Lennard Kämna missed out on the top ten places in the opening time trial of the 106th Giro d'Italia.

The 26-year-old finished the 19.6 kilometres from Fossacesia Marina to Ortona on Saturday in 22:41 minutes and had to settle for 22nd place. Kämna was 1:23 minutes behind the Belgian world champion Remco Evenepoel, who took the first pink jersey in impressive style.

Co-favourite Primoz Roglic in sixth place at the start already lost 43 seconds to his great rival Evenepoel and has thus fallen behind for the first time. The Giro project had already got off to the worst possible start for the Slovenian. A total of five helpers had to be replaced in the run-up to the race. On Friday, Roglic's compatriot Jan Tratnik was hit by a training accident.

The German time trial champion Kämna wants to tackle the overall classification in a Grand Tour for the first time this year. After a mediocre start, he now has to make up time in the mountains. On Sunday, the sprinters can hope for a mass finish on the flat second stage over 202 kilometres from Teramo to San Salvo.

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