On the Italian island of Sicily, the treacherous wind created special scenes. Halfway through the time trial, the wind changed direction, so that the later starters, including many general classification riders, could no longer set a top time. The brand new time trial world champion Flilipo Ganna won in his home country. By doing so he clinched the first pink jersey.

Sports director Addy Engels had noticed the changed wind. “We deliberately chose to let Steven start later. We knew the strong gusts would diminish later in the afternoon. We can conclude that it was the wrong choice. It was not expected that the wind would still shift like that. Steven rode a solid time trial. There is nothing to worry about.”

Afterwards Kruijswijk was also amazed by the changed wind. “The direction of the wind was very different than during the recon. It was really hard to get the right speed. I finished close to many other GC men. So I was not the only one. It is a shame that I lost a lot of time on Geraint Thomas in particular, but there are still plenty of opportunities for us to come. We know what to do now.”

Engels complimented grand tour debutant Foss for his amazing fifth place. “It’s a fantastic debut in a grand tour for him. I think finishing fifth in such a time trial is very good. It’s a really good performance.”