Mathieu van der Poel: "I got myself an extra day in pink, so I think I can be very happy with this"

Mathieu van der Poel fulfilled the task of defending the pink jersey in the second stage of the Giro d'Italia, putting in a strong performance in the time-trial which has almost seen him take a second stage win.

"I think I did a very good time trial. Of course the difference with the winner was quite small, but I got myself an extra day in pink, so I think I can be very happy with this," van der Poel said at the end of his effort. Having won the opening stage yesterday, the Alpecin-Fenix rider started the time-trial in pink, and managed to keep it in the explosive time-trial in Budapest. Without many specialists and a suiting route, it was no surprise to see the Dutchman battle for the stage win, but that briefly eluded him by three seconds as Simon Yates blasted through the course.

"I knew I had to have something left over from the last climb. Obviously, if the difference is three seconds, you start thinking about where you left that, but I think I can be very happy overall. It was a very difficult time trial. There were some corners, but they were quite fast, and it wasn't easy to make a difference there," van der Poel concluded.

Perhaps most importantly, his lead in the points classification grew further and may became a goal of his. Besides carrying the pink jersey, which he will likely struggle to defend on the slopes of the Etna volcano, there are many paths which he may chase throughout the race because of the impressive start to it.