Pogacar storms to astonishing Stage 7 time trial victory to extend GC lead, Thomas slips back

Italian powerhouse Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) caught no fewer than seven riders during in a dramatic 40.6km time trial in Umbria but was ultimately beaten by a peerless performer in pink who was last to roll down the ramp in Foligno but far quickest to get up the punchy climb into Perugia.

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) trailed Ganna by 44 seconds at the first checkpoint and then by 47 seconds ahead of the decisive climb. But a staggering assault on the 6.6km ascent to the famous Corso Vannucci in the historic hilltop city saw Pogacar turn things round in swashbuckling style to cement his lead at the top of the standings.

To cap a frustrating day for Ineos Grenadiers, last year’s runner-up Geraint Thomas struggled to find his rhythm while driving a monster 66-tooth chain ring and could only post the tenth best time of Stage 7. After conceding exactly two minutes to his GC rival, Thomas also dropped one place to third after Colombia’s Dani Martinez (Bora-Hansrohe) ran a negative split to take eighth on the day following his own mini-revival on the climb.

Ineos Grenadiers’ strength in depth, however, was there for the world to see with four riders in the top 10 – including three riders in the top four as Dutchman Thymen Arensman and American debutant Magnus Sheffield both impressed by pushing team-mate Ganna all the way.

Starting almost two hours earlier than the big race favourites, Ganna recovered from an apparent slap to the arm from a fan and looked all but guaranteed a career seventh time trial win as rivals Thomas and Pogacar did battle in slightly more blustery conditions.

The Hour Record holder certainly had one foot on the top step of the podium when Pogacar – mirroring the entire peloton – eschewed a bike change and embarked on the double-digit ramp of the opening kilometre of the climb into Perugia.

What happened next astonished fans the world over – not least those in Umbria cheering on their national TT champion, whose dominant performance looked so emphatic that Eurosport expert Jens Voigt described Ganna as “a fighter jet verses the passenger planes”.

Ganna and Ineos had clearly not banked on Pogacar going stratospheric in his own spaceship – the Slovenian putting in a whopping 1:04 on Ganna on the climb alone to become the first rider in pink to win a time trial on the Giro since Nairo Quintana a decade ago.

Pogacar completed the 40.6km course in an average speed of 47.088 km/h to stop the clock at 51:44 – some 17 seconds faster than the speechless Ganna watching from the hotseat. Ineos duo Sheffield and Arensman were 49 seconds and 1:00 in arrears while Germany’s Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) completed the top five at 1:05.

After his second win of the week, Pogacar now leads his nearest challenger Martinez by 2:36 with Thomas a further 10 seconds back in fourth.

A disappointed Thomas refused to blame the changing weather conditions for his result. “It was nothing to do with the wind,” the 37-year-old said. “I tried to ride within myself. I felt I was okay but I just lacked something over those kickers. It is what it is – just one of those days.”

The remaining two places in the top five are now occupied by Australians Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) – the latter taking over the white jersey from Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike). The Belgian debutant dropped three places after shipping a huge chunk of time on the flat opening 36km of the ride along the picturesque Topino valley as the riders passed beneath the beautiful towns of Assisi and Spello.

Pogacar’s latest triumph was the third time trial win of his career on the first occasion he has raced against the clock since securing a bronze medal in the Glasgow World Championships last August.

“Finally, after the world championships last year, today was my first race on a TT bike,” an ecstatic Pogacar said. “It was a lot of preparation for this and a lot of ups and downs since last year. Today I felt good and I started with an easier pace. I had to get used to the TT bike.

“I just paced myself till the climb and then I went full gas. I’m super happy with my day on the bike. I knew the climb suited me better than Pippo [Ganna] so that was my advantage because it was so steep – but I think the next time trial it won’t be my advantage.”

With the best part of five minutes now separating Pogacar and tenth place Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana-Qazaqstan) on GC, and the Slovenian’s nearest challenger already two-and-a-half minutes in arrears, the race enters the second weekend with many believing the battle for pink is all but over.

Indeed, Pogacar will get a chance to extend his stifling lead on Saturday in a short but brutal 152km Stage 8 that includes 4,000m of climbing in the Apennines and concludes on the Cat.1 ascent of Prati di Tivo, where a certain Slovenian soloed to glory in the 2012 Tirreno-Adriatico.