Van der Poel in pink: he is the king of Hungary

The Dutchman in Visegrad beats Girmay after a royal sprint. Thousands of fans on the streets from Budapest upon arrival

BUDAPEST. Heroes’ Square, Budapest at 12.20 the 105th edition of the Giro d’Italia starts in front of thousands of cheering people. Four hours and 35 minutes later in Visegrad, 35 km further north, a step away from Slovakia, Mathieu van der Poel he tames the final climb that leads to the fortress and makes the widely announced bingo: he wins the stage and the pink jersey. After a spectacular sprint.

Gentlemen, the Giro d’Italia on Friday 6 May got off to a great start because the Dutchman has enriched the roll of honor of a race between two wings of crowds with the name of a champion. Crowd, yes, for two years now Covid had removed it from great cycling. Here, perhaps facilitated by the warmth of the Hungarian spring or by unconsciousness, the pandemic seems very far away. The masks?

Not at all, in the streets of Budapest, the night invaded by young people, Covid has left no trace. Let’s hope for the best, really, as the two forwards of the day have hoped for a long time. Obviously Italians, obviously sent to attack by that old fox called Gianni Savio. Trentino Mattia Bais and Brescia Filippo Tagliani. Not even time to tie your shoes and go. The couple of Drone Hopper Androni took glory and applause in the Magyar plain with the great river next to it. Then, having arrived at the famous bend of the Danube, their adventure is over.

Five km of starter to the battle announced on the edge of sixty per hour and the ascent of 5 km to the finish line crowded with Hungarians, many climbed by bike. Many are the jerseys of Bora-Hansgrohe, at home in central Europe, many of Groupama, because Attila Valter is the cycling idol of a nation. There was even a cyclist who arrived up there with an inflatable shark on his shoulders, an inevitable tribute to Vincenzo Nibali.

Alpecin for VdP and Lotto for Caleb Ewan: furious fight. The pace is furious, the slopes increase. Carapaz’s Ineos controls the German Lennard Kamna (Bora), a tough guy, tries to escape the sprint. Nothing, in Visegrad, where King Louis I of Hungary was born in the ‘300, the sprint is royal. The hero of Eritrea, the winner of Ghent Wevelgem, throws it Biriyam Girmay (Intermarchè).

He responds with the turbo, and with a perfect timing worthy of a champion, King Van der Poel who wins with his arms raised in front of the Eritrean but not Caleb Ewan, the only surviving sprinter on the climb, who collides and falls in an attempt to get over it. Third is Pello Bilbao (Bahrain). Behind, among the favorites, good Richard Carapaz (Ineos),4°, e Wilco Kelderman (7th). And in terms of the final pink jersey, the Ecuadorian’s presence in the final battle is certainly no small thing.

Blue light with the Tuscan Diego Ulsi (7th) and the Veneto Andrea Vedrame (Ag2r) 9 °. «It is an incredible emotion to wear this jersey, I managed to launch the sprint at the right moment, now I will try to defend it in the time trial and finish the Giro. You will see, Girmay is very strong and I will fight here and in other races with him “, he says before wearing the symbol of primacy and also that of the points and also that of best climber, leaving only Girmay (great runner) with that of best young. A year ago at the Tour de France, after a similar action on the Mur de Bretagne, King Mathieu, now also on the throne of Hungary, wept in the yellow jersey remembering his grandfather Poulidor who is no longer there. How much the grandson with the crown will be enjoying from up there.

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