A sharp attack by Lennard Kämna was unsuccessful, instead Mathieu van der Poel got the pink jersey at the start of the 105th Giro d'Italia after yellow at the Tour de France 2021.
The Dutchman, grandson of cycling star Raymond Poulidor, who died in 2019, won the spectacular Giro detour in Hungary after 195 kilometers from Budapest to Visegrad on Friday ahead of Biniam Girmay from Eritrea and the Spaniard Pello Bilbao.
But Kämna immediately caused a sensation, attacking on the final climb a good two and a half kilometers before the finish and tearing the field apart.
"It was pretty spontaneous.
When I realized that I was in a good position and the field came to a standstill, I thought to myself: This is a good moment to attack.
It didn't work out in the end, but it was nice nonetheless.
My legs exploded out the back,” said Kämna.
In any case, the competition was warned.
The 2020 stage winner was caught up again 800 meters from the finish - and the expected scenario emerged with van der Poel as the winner.
Similarly, the four-time World Cross Country Champion won the second stage of the Tour at Mur-de-Bretagne last year and then wore the yellow jersey for six days.
“To get the pink jersey is incredible.
It took a lot of energy to catch up with the boys in the final,” said van der Poel.
The finale was overshadowed by the fall of Australian sprint star Caleb Ewan.
But there is still a lot to be expected from Kämna.
The 25-year-old presented himself in top form.
At the Giro he wants to go hunting for stages and help the three top riders around Emanuel Buchmann in the fight for the podium.
Buchmann reached the finish line in 16th place, four seconds behind in the group of co-favourites.
On Saturday, the first of only two individual time trials is on the agenda.
9.2 kilometers have to be covered in Budapest.
The Giro detour in Hungary ends on Sunday before the entourage travels to Sicily.
It will continue there on Tuesday.