The climax of the Giro d’Italia’s opening weekend was the 160-kilometre stage that started and finished in Vlorë. The key point of the final stage on Albanian soil was the climb of the Qafa e Llogarasë. The summit of the climb was around forty kilometres from the finish line.  

A group of six riders formed the breakaway of the day, but they were never given much breathing room. On the Qafa e Llogarasë, Lidl-Trek took control of the peloton. Several sprinters, including Wout van Aert, were dropped. The reduced peloton then descended towards the finish. After a nervous final stretch, Pedersen sprinted to the stage win.  

“We had hoped Wout would make it over the climb, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case,” Bart Lemmen said afterwards. “Before the climb, he had already told us he didn’t have the legs to compete for the win today. After that, our focus shifted to finishing safely and protecting Simon Yates as best we could in the hectic finale. That went smoothly.”  

Tomorrow is a rest day. The teams will transfer to Italy, something Van Aert is looking forward to. “Today I chose not to push myself because I quickly felt that I didn’t have the good legs. That’s not surprising. My second place in the opening stage was better than expected, but both yesterday and today, I lacked that top feeling. I’m looking forward to growing step by step in the coming weeks.”