Overnight, there was some confusion about the maglia azzurra, the blue jersey awarded to the rider with the most King of the Mountain points.
Much to his apparent amusement, Emirates Team Emirates’ Brandon McNulty found himself on the podium after the first stage and was awarded blue as he was clearly timing Climb faster than anyone else in the race.
But that appeared to be a mistake, with actual timing showing Ineos Grenadiers’ Tao Geoghegan Hart flying up the short slope faster than anyone else at the end of the 19.6km TT.
Tudor, who replaced Tissot as the race’s official timing supplier this year, announced McNulty had climbed 3-51, but a closer look at his ride data showed he was actually 31 seconds slower than that. Posted 4-04 by Geoghegan Hart.
McNulty is baffled by the award. “It was fun,” he said with a laugh. “I knew I had to keep a good pace and work hard on the climbs, but I didn’t expect to be the fastest. Honestly, it surprised me.”
Geoghegan Hart was in blue at the start of the second period and race organizers admitted a timing error.
Here are some Giro stories you may have missed from the past few days:
First: a look back at how Remco Evenepoel stormed the first maglia rosa of the race.
Just Remco Evenepoel vs Primož Roglic? Here are eight other GC contenders to watch at the Giro d’Italia
Today looks like Mark Cavendish’s stage. How does he feel leading? Find it here.
Jai Hindley won the race for Bora-hansgrohe last year, but the Germans know they have done the work to win again. Learn more here.
In the end, Charlie Quarterman told a feel-good story about taking the Grand Tour, a dream he thought had passed away from him.
Curious who is playing. Check out the launch list here.
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