Tadej Pogacar rues missed opportunity to take pink jersey at Giro d'Italia: "Unfortunately, on the last climb I had to attack from the foot"

Tadej Pogacar was the man to beat on the opening day of the Giro d'Italia, and UAE Team Emirates took full responsibility. All the work did not end on a win, but the Slovenian did already take time on all his rivals for the overall classification.

"It was a short, fast first day of the Giro. We tried to check the ride, but it wasn't our day. However, I think we still did well, especially for such a first day of a long Grand Tour," Pogacar said in a post-race interview. "These are always 50-50 days: some riders have a hard time, others have a harder time. You can also see that in our team."

UAE worked throughout the whole day to fatigue the climbers and classics specialists, with the goal of making the difference on the final climb. In a way, it backfired, as the lack of men following the penultimate ascent led to attacks coming off the front. This forced UAE into burning off the rest of their men until the base of the final hilltop, where Pogacar had to to the work on his own.

"Unfortunately, on the last climb I had to attack from the foot, where Narváez was also very strong and could follow my wheel. The gap to the group in front of us was too big and I had to give everything to close it. The fact that I managed to drop all the GC riders is a good signal from my legs." However when it came to the stage win, Narváez managed to follow, and Max Schachmann took advantage of the lead he had coming into the climb to then link up at the front. This proved a challenge for the UAE Team Emirates rider in the final kilometer as he wanted the stage win.

"When we got to the top, I knew Narváez would be difficult to drop. It has also been a while since I sprinted with three people and I started too early," he admits, having reacted to the move of Schachmann right away. But this allowed Jhonatan Narváez to follow the wheel and then sprint to victory. "My legs were good, but he was just faster than me. I didn't have much of a chance, but I can look back on a good effort."

When it comes to the ultimate goal of the overall classification however, it is very much a complete victory today, taking 14 seconds on most of his rivals; but even more on Romain Bardet and Thymen Arensman

"Step by step, day by day, things will get better. The stage towards Oropa suits us better on Sunday, but we first have to see how the legs feel after the recovery from this first stage," he anticipates. "I'm looking forward to a beautiful Giro. It was a nice start here in Torino, with a lot of nice people. I enjoyed that."