Daan Hoole stuns with time trial victory as Giro GC gets shaken up in the rain

Following Monday’s rest day, the second week of the Giro began with a time trial. The 28.6-kilometer test against the clock between Lucca and Pisa was relatively long. It didn’t feature many climbs, though a short ascent halfway through added a bit of complexity to the course.

The first rider, Alexander Krieger (Tudor), wasn’t scheduled to start until 1:20 PM, but chaos had already erupted earlier in the day. As predicted, heavy rain fell across Italy. While there was speculation about how much more rain would fall in the afternoon, one thing was certain: in the morning, the roads were already soaked. Primoz Roglic immediately felt the consequences, crashing during his recon ride. Fortunately, it was not serious, as team boss Patxi Vila quickly confirmed that his team leader was all good.

Michael Hepburn (Jayco AlUla) was briefly in the hot seat, until Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) smashed his time by a full forty seconds. The Brit laid down the first truly competitive benchmark in what already looked like a solid time trial. Meanwhile, Daan Hoole and Edoardo Affini (Visma | Lease a Bike) were already on the way, giving us early outsiders for the stage win. With relatively dry conditions still holding, early starters clearly had a better shot at victory.

Affini came up short, considering that the Italian finished 14 seconds behind Hayter. Hoole, on the other hand, clocked the fastest time at the second intermediate checkpoint, making Hayter's lead look increasingly vulnerable. In the end, the Dutchman dethroned him by ten seconds — a brilliant ride by Hoole!

Wout van Aert and later Joshua Tarling also took to the course. Tarling was flying early, clocking a time 17 seconds faster than Hoole at the first intermediate check. Van Aert, by contrast, was already three seconds slower than the Dutchman at that point. Dark clouds began looming over Pisa, signaling that the predicted afternoon rain was indeed on its way.

Then came a dramatic momentum shift. At the second checkpoint, Tarling suddenly lost four seconds to Hoole. He wasn't the only one to concede time on that part of the course at that point, as Van Aert was nearly 50 seconds slower, and Luke Plapp also lost significant time. Tarling’s near-collision with Honoré didn’t help, but it seemed to be a change in weather — especially wind — that was sabotaging the late starters.

Ultimately, Tarling couldn’t close the gap. The INEOS rider fell seven seconds short by the end of the stage, moving him into virtual second place. Due to the start order, the race then entered a bit of a lull, during which no real contenders for the win (at least on paper) were on the course.

Or so it seemed. Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) and Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step) both clocked times faster than Hoole's at the first checkpoint. But at the second split, Hoole’s dominance became clear again. Cattaneo lost 12 seconds to the Dutchman, and Frigo gave up more than 20. By 4:00 PM local time, it was time for the GC contenders to face the clock.

It was now clear that the wind, not rain, had been the biggest issue for the later riders. Remarkably, it had stayed dry until then, but multiple riders who had already finished commented on the wind picking up. This only improved Hoole’s chances. Teammate Mathias Vacek did beat his time at the first checkpoint.

Then the long-awaited rain arrived in full force. Primoz Roglic was among the first to be caught in the downpour, followed by Vacek, who was very careful in one of the corners. As with many others, Vacek lost a lot of time in the second half, ending his chances of a stage win. It remained to be seen how much time Roglic, who was one of the few riders who managed to complete the first, more technical section in dry conditions, would be able to gain on his rivals.

Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) lost nearly a minute to the Slovenian early on — later revealed to be due to a crash — but it was already clear the GC standings were going to look very different after the stage. Thymen Arensman passed his Colombian teammate in the GC with a strong time trial. From the start of his race against the clock, pink jersey holder Isaac Del Toro was already losing time to his teammate Juan Ayuso, who was riding an excellent time trial.

At the finish, the question became just how big the time gaps would be among the top contenders. For Hoole, the stage win was now guaranteed — the biggest victory of his career. For the GC riders, the damage remained to be seen. In that regard, Derek Gee, Max Poole, and Roglic came out on top. Ayuso lost 19 seconds to Roglic, while Del Toro narrowly managed to keep his overall lead.