'I Tried, I Gave Everything:' Pogačar Mulling over Missed Opportunity for Giro d'Italia Stage Win

It is a measure of Tadej Pogačar's ambition in this year's Giro d'Italia that he was disappointed with the outcome of Saturday's opening stage.

Third over the line, finishing in the same time as the winner Jhonathan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers) and runner-up Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), the overwhelming Giro favorite distanced every one of his race rivals in the race to Turin.

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike), Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Ben O'Connor (Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale) all conceded ten seconds.

Others such as Thomas' teammate Thymen Arensman, Michael Woods (Israel Premier Tech), Romain Bardet (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL) and Luke Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla) lost even more time, being dropped by a relentless UAE Team Emirates pace on the Colle de Maddelena which shredded the bunch with more than 20km remaining.

Most riders would deem that a success. For Pogačar, victorious already seven times out of just 11 days of competition this year, it was mission unaccomplished.

"In the last climb unfortunately I had to go from the bottom to the top," he explained afterwards, speaking about the steep Bivio di San Vito ramp, which topped out 3km from the finish line.

"Narváez was super strong today and he followed really well the wheel. Also the group in front had too big a gap at the bottom.

"I tried, I gave everything. I still dropped GC riders so this is a good sign that I have good legs. But when we came to the top I knew that Narvaez was hard to beat in the sprint."

Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates team had driven the pace inside the final kilometers to set things up for their leader. It appeared they may have burned up matches too soon as a move slipped clear after the Colle della Maddalenam, causing his team to lose control.

Six riders were out front, with Nicola Conci (Alpecin Deceuninck) leaping clear from that group and holding a half-minute lead just before that final climb.

Pogačar had to set the pace for most of that ascent to ensure Conci came back, enabling Narváez to remain latched onto his wheel. Schachmann got back on the descent.

"I was a little bit nervous because it is a long time since I sprinted with these guys," he explained. "I started the sprint too early, but I still had good legs. Narvaez is still a faster rider than me and I didn't have too much of a chance. Anyway it was a really good effort today."

Pogačar set to come out fighting on Sunday: 'Tomorrow is more a stage suited for us'

Many noticed during the stage that the double Tour de France winner rode the stage with a black armband. A rider from his junior Pogi Team died on Friday in a kayaking accident and that was very much on his mind.

Had things gone to plan he would have won the stage in his honor.

"It was the first stage, the first pink jersey end game," Team Principal Mauro Gianetti explained. "He wanted to take the jersey and he wanted also to dedicate the victory to the boy from the Pogi team who died yesterday. He is so sensitive to this kind of thing.

"How much he takes care of the boys in the Pogi team, he supports the team in everything. I think he was feeling…not responsible, because he had not a crash on the bike, but it is like family for him and he was very affected by this.

"He did everything, he gave 100 percent of his opportunity and the team also did well."

Like Pogačar, Gianetti was keen to complement the stage winner on his performance.

"Today Narváez was fantastic. He was able to keep the pace of Tadej on the last climb and beat him in the sprint. I think for the start of the Giro it is an incredibly nice stage with a lot of battles already, and also a stage where we can discover a little bit the power, the energy between the contenders for the GC."

Pogačar will doubtlessly mull over the outcome of the stage and what might have been done differently. There are echoes of his fourth place in the 2022 Tour of Flanders, when he was the strongest rider but was out- maneuvered by Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers) and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ).

Still, when he goes through the GC sheet and sees the time gaps, he may feel more satisfied with how things turned out.

"We tried to control the stage, but unfortunately it was not our day. But we still did a good job, I think," he assessed.

"It was the first day of the Giro. There is always a bit of 50/50 in the riders, we saw some riders suffering today and some riders feeling good. I think also in our team we go step by step, day by day."

Pogačar's ambition, his determination to honor the Pogi Team rider and his frustration at taking third means he will be hugely focused for Sunday's second stage.

It takes the riders to the top of the Santuario di Oropa climb, and is much tougher than Saturday's opening leg.

Pogačar is one of the very best climbers in the world and, on paper at least, this longer ascent presents Narváez with a much bigger task to try to contain him.

"Tomorrow is more a stage suited for us," Pogačar said. "We will see tomorrow how the legs are from today's effort, but I think it is going to be a very good Giro.

Gianetti was downplaying talk of Pogačar taking over the race although, in truth, it would be a huge surprise if the race leader manages to hold on.

"I think when we see the performance of Narvaez today, it will not be easy," he said, cautioning against presumptions.

"But in the end I think we are not the only one trying to win the Giro. Ineos is also here with a strong team, with Geraint and Narváez. Of course now the responsibility is a little bit on the shoulders of Ineos, not only us. But we take our responsibility like we did today.

"Today of course is an important stage in the vision of the three weeks, but we can say something can happen every day in the Giro. So we need to stay concentrated and pay respect to everybody."