UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogačar finished second in the ITT Castiglione delle Stiviere-Desenzano del Garda (31.2 km), on Saturday, 29 seconds behind the winner Filippo Ganna (Ineos-Grenadiers).
Pogačar covered the course in 35’31” (average speed 52.708 km/h), 45 seconds faster than Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers) and 1 minute 16 seconds more than Daniel Martinez (Bora-hansgrohe), meaning after stage 14, Pogačar has an advantage of 3’41” on Thomas and 3’56” on Martinez.
The UAE Team Emirates’ captain sprang out fast from the start, marking the best performance at the first time point and succeeded in limiting the gap from top time trialists such as Filippo Ganna, who could exploit his power on the flat roads of the second part of the course.
Stage 15 (222 km) is a demanding hill climb: after the start from Manerba del Garda, the riders will climb the Lodrino (3rd category), the Colle di san Zeno (2nd category), the Mortirolo (1st category), the Passo del Foscagno (1st category) and the summit finish of the Mottolino (1st category).
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