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

Italian powerhouse Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) caught seven riders during a dramatic 40.3km time trial in Umbria but was ultimately beaten by a peerless performer in pink who was last to roll down the ramp but far quickest to get up the punchy climb into Perugia.

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) was 44 seconds down on Ganna at the first checkpoint and then 47 seconds behind ahead of the climb. But a staggering assault on the 6.6km climb up to the picturesque Corso Vannucci in the historic hilltop city saw Pogacar turn things round in style to take a second stage win in his debut drama and 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 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.

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

Starting almost two hours earlier than the big favourites, Ganna 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 – like the entire peloton – eschewed a bike change and embarked on the opening double-digit ramp of the final climb.

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

Ganna and Ineos had just not banked on Pogacar going stratospheric in his spaceship – the Slovenian putting in a whopping 1:04 on Ganna to become the first rider in pink to win a time trial on the Giro since Nairo Quintana a whole 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. The final 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 Belgium’s Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike), who dropped three places after shipping a huge chunk of time on the flat opening 36km of the ride along the picturesque Topino valley.