"Mate, I was completely at my limit": Wout van Aert dismisses bluff question after near-perfect Giro start

"I really didn't think I could pull it off," he began his post-race interview with the small group of journalists who had gathered around him. "I tried to convince myself and my teammates that we still had a chance, which helped. They were exceptionally good and were constantly in good positions," he said, complimenting riders such as Edoardo Affini and Dylan van Baarle on their efforts.

"This was way above expectations," said van Aert while coughing. "I didn't feel great during the race, but there are only one or two chances to take the pink jersey in this Giro, so I really wanted to go for it. I suffered a lot on the last climb to stay with the leaders, so although it's a shame to finish second, this was better than expected."

A question about whether van Aert deliberately dropped back on the last climb surprised him. "Mate... I was completely at my limit, and I wasn't bluffing at all. It was crawling to the top of the climb."

The Visma | Lease a Bike leader came very close in the sprint. "Yes, but coming out of Pedersen's slipstream is quite challenging. I had an advantage until I had to pass him. Not many can pass him, and I didn't manage either. I thought I could pass him for a moment, but it just didn't work out."

On day two, Van Aert may still have a chance to grab the pink jersey with a time trial, but he will have to make up a gap of four seconds on Pedersen. Shortly after the first stage, he didn't want to think too much about that yet. "We try to recover and rest as well as possible for this stage and take it day by day. Let's take a moment to digest this first, and then we'll try again during the time trial. There are a lot of strong riders here, and the guy in front of me also has a solid time trial in his legs."

Final conclusion? "Two weeks ago, I would certainly have been disappointed, but I must be satisfied. It was touch-and-go on the last climb, and I finished where I should have been in the sprint. I got very close but didn't expect to get this close."