Carapaz sixth in Giro opener

Richard Carapaz made a strong start to the 2022 Giro d’Italia, sprinting to sixth on the opening stage.
 
The Ecuadorian was well positioned and looked comfortable on the five kilometre climb to the finish in Hungary.
 
He had compatriot Jhonatan Narvaez for company in the final metres before the sprint took hold, with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) emerging to take victory and the early maglia rosa. Narvaez remained within the lead group at the finish to take 11th.
 
Salvatore Puccio had arrived at the front with 3.5km to go to help control the pace, with Carapaz positioned well on his wheel. As the pace finally went up a pair of crashes punctuate the finale, with Richie Porte going down briefly with 2.5km to go. Despite that the Tasmanian was able to quickly remount and finish the stage ahead of Saturday’s time triai.

 

Up until the finale the stage had played out in relative calm, with the Grenadiers looking to conserve energy ahead of a long three weeks.