Add to My Favourites

Van der Poel grabs Pink Jersey on 1st Stage of the Giro d'Italia

Team Alpecin-Fenix delivered Mathieu van der Poel to the head of the race on the final uphill climb to sprint to victory ahead of Biniam Girmay as Caleb Ewan crashed behind

Mathieu van der Poel didn't see the final bend until the last 50 and attacked hard from the head of the race to  win in the opening day and takes the first pink jersey of the 105th Giro d'Italia

The 195-kilometer long stage saw two riders from Drone Hopper - Androni Giocatolli breakawak. Davide Bais and Filippo Tagliani built up a maximum lead of 11 minutes before the peloton upped the pace and eventually caught the pair with 13 kilometers to go.

With 5km to after a sweeping right hand bend on to final climb, the whole Team Alpecin-Fenix pace Van der Poel to the steeper part of the climb.

Lawrence Naesen (AG2R-Citroën) was the first to attack with around 3km to go and got an 8s gap.

Lennard Kämna (Bora) also attacked and opened a small gap, but behind Lawrence Naesen was reeled back in as the pace in the peloton increased.

Lennard Kämna was got just inside 1km to go.

Behind Formolo and Ulissi reeled him in and chaos reigned.

By the final bend Van der Poel had made his way to the front with Biniam Girmay and Caleb Ewan behind.

Van der Poel launched his sprint with around 40m to go with Girmay following. Ewan started his sprint, but rubbed Girmay's back wheel and crashed.

Van der Poel held off Girmay all the way to the line in a chaotic and tense opening sprint on a narrow twisting final climb.

VIDEO: Caleb Ewan Crashed

Van der Poel knew the  sprint was going to be tough,  "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. 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 added a Maglia Rosa to his yellow jersey from the Tour de France, "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."

"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."

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) pulled on the white young riders White Jersey after finishing second.

Biniam Girmay second as Caleb Ewan crashed behind

Stage 2 is 9.2 km  ITT with just 150m of climbing around Budapest on a city circuit that stitches together the Hungarian capital from Pest to the historical centre of Buda. 

VIDEO: 2022 Giro d'Italia Stage 1 Highlights

2022 Giro d'Italia Stage 1 Top 10

01 NED Mathieu van der Poel Alpecin-Fenix 04:35:28
02 ERI Biniam Girmay Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert + 00
03 ESP Pello Bilbao Bahrain Victorious + 00
04 DEN Magnus Cort EF Education-EasyPost + 00
05 NED Wilco Kelderman BORA-hansgrohe + 00
06 ECU Richard Carapaz INEOS Grenadiers + 00
07 NED Bauke Mollema Trek-Segafredo + 00
08 ITA Diego Ulissi UAE Team Emirates + 00
09 ITA Andrea Vendrame AG2R Citroën Team + 04
10 DEN Mattias Skjelmose Jensen Trek-Segafredo + 04

 
Tag: giro
 
Jun 01 2025 - NEWS: Emotional Simon Yates wins Giro d'Italia after final sprint stage in Rome
May 31 2025 - NEWS: Simon Yates powers up the Finestre to take overall lead at Giro d'Italia
May 28 2025 - NEWS: Massive Attack After his Crack: Isaac del Toro Wins Giro Stage 17
May 27 2025 - NEWS: Roglic abandons Stage 16 as Isaac del Toro and Juan Ayuso Completely Crack
May 24 2025 - NEWS: Mexican Del Toro extends Giro lead after rivals marred by crash
May 23 2025 - NEWS: Mads Pedersen Claims Fourth Stage Victory at Giro d'Italia
May 17 2025 - NEWS: Australian Luke Plapp Claims First Grand Tour Stage Win at Giro d'Italia
May 16 2025 - NEWS: Ayuso Triumphs in Giro d'Italia Stage 7 as Roglic Seizes Pink Jersey
May 15 2025 - NEWS: Groves wins neutralised Giro sixth stage as Hindley abandons
May 14 2025 - NEWS: Mads Pedersen Completes Hat Trick at 2025 Giro d'Italia
May 13 2025 - NEWS: Casper van Uden Claims First Grand Tour Stage Victory at Giro d'Italia
May 11 2025 - NEWS: Pedersen snatches Pink Jersey back on Stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia
May 10 2025 - NEWS: Primož Roglic Takes Pink Jersey After Thrilling Stage 2 Time Trial
May 09 2025 - NEWS: Pedersen Triumphs in Giro d'Italia Opener as Landa Suffers Devastating Crash
May 09 2025 - NEWS: Primoz Roglic Favorite for 2025 Giro d'Italia Title with Tadej Pogacar's Absence
Sep 12 2016 - RESULTS: Hundreds Tackled the Gigantic Mt. Palomar in 5th Annual Giro Di San Diego
Sep 09 2014 - RESULTS: Giro di San Diego GranFondo
Nov 12 2013 - RESULTS: Giro d Italia Wraps Up an Amazing Season in Miami
Jun 04 2013 - RESULTS: Giro d'Italia Los Angeles Pasadena
May 09 2025 - EVENT: 2025 Giro d'Italia
Jul 12 2025 - EVENT: Bodensee Gravel Giro
Jul 13 2025 - EVENT: Midland Monster Grit X
Jul 21 2025 - EVENT: Giro delle Dolomiti
Aug 30 2025 - EVENT: Ride Across Girona
Oct 03 2025 - EVENT: Sparkassen Münsterland Giro
Nov 02 2025 - EVENT: El Giro de Rigo
Nov 22 2025 - EVENT: Gravel Giro
Nov 23 2025 - EVENT: Giro della Donna