"I rode a similar time to the other GC riders, apart from Remco" - Aleksandr Vlasov satisfied with start to Giro d'Italia

Aleksandr Vlasov is quite a decent time-trialist but he put in a strong performance on the first stage of the Giro d'Italia. The Russian defended himself successfully against his rivals in the fight for the podium, finishing tenth on the day.

"A top 10 result in the opening time trial is a good start for me. I rode a similar time to the other GC riders, apart from Remco, so I'm in a good position going into the next stages," Vlasov said in a press release. "It's a long race where anything can happen, but for now we're in a good position."

The 27-year old has been building up towards the Giro quite well, and looks to improve on his fourth place that he achieved back in 2021. He matched Geraint Thomas in time throughout the 19.9-kilometer effort, a strong start to his bid for the overall classification.

Teammate Lennard Kämna came down with illness over the last few days and was unable to perform to his best level however. Vlasov shed 55 seconds to Remco Evenepoel whilst the German time-trial champion lost 1:23 minutes.