In the old days of the Giro d'Italia, when padroni like Francesco Moser and Giuseppe Saronni set the strategy, the early stages like Friday's might have passed relatively peacefully. But in modern cycling, every kilometer of every stage matters.

The short, flat course from Brindisi lent itself to a group sprint. Steven Kruijswijk, buoyed by the Jumbo-Visma team, which included such rouleurs as Tony Martin and Jos van Emden, saw his chance.

So did coach Adi Engels, who told Kruijswijk to pick up the pace early on in order to catch some of his GC rivals off guard.

"Everyone knew there was going to be a crosswind," Engels said. When I talked to the guys, I told them to start early in order to surprise them."

Six kilometers out of Matera, where Pier Paolo Pasolini filmed The Gospel According to St. Matthew, on Strada Statale 7, Jumbo Visma chose to unleash hell, or something like it. Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Rafal Mayka (Bora-Hansgrohe), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), and Domenico Pozzovivo (NTT Pro Cycling) all lost their legs, and pace-making shattered the peloton to pieces.

"The wind was blowing from behind and then crosswind, so we planned to do something at the 6km mark. I think there were five guys from our team. We started pulling and the group split."

The group of Kruijswijk and his Jumbo Visma had about 30 riders, including the ever vigilant Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo). At one point, he extended his lead with the third group to one minute, but the sheer number of sprinters in the lead group affected their coordination.

"Looking back, there were a couple of riders who fell off, and of course there were sprinters who didn't want to work with us. Kruijswijk said, "Other riders came back and I thought it wouldn't be good for our day to split up again."

Engels felt that the lack of GC contenders in the lead group also doomed Jumbo Visma's move. Athletes such as Fulgang, Majka, Yates and Pozzovivo found a common cause and were able to get back into the race.

"I think we needed one or two more GC riders up front," Engels said.

"I think we could have used one or two more GC guys up front," Engels said. But that's racing."

Jumbo Visma was a force early on, allowing winner Arnaud Demaret (Groupama-FDJ) to run 143 km at an average speed of 51.234 km/h, making it the fastest road stage in Giro history. The peloton's speed heading into Brindisi did not wane when a crash in the last 40 km caused the group to drop back significantly.

On the final approach to the finish, Kruijswijk and his Jumbo Vismagade again stood out, with the Dutchman sitting in third place behind Martin and van Emden in the final kilometer to finish safely in the peloton. Kruijswijk is now eighth overall, 1:21 ahead of Maria Rosa's Joan Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step).

"Just ask Tony and Jos," grinned Kruijswijk when asked why he took the lead in the last kilometer.

"I have some strong guys on my team and I don't want to crash under the 3km rule, so it's better to stay in front.

"There's a lot of bouncing and fighting, so I can sit back a little bit or I can sit up front. I have two guys that have the power to sit up front and sprint for the win, so it's easy for me. The last "k" I can run in pole position and pedal to the finish without any major effort. "

What awaits Kruijswijk and his overall class rivals this weekend is truly a huge effort. Saturday's finale on the Gargano peninsula features a short 17% incline up the Via Saragat outside Vieste, and stage 9 finishes with a Category 1 long-distance to Roccaraso, which is approached from a different route than the Giro four years ago.

"It will be difficult," said Kruijswijk. It's the last day before the rest day, so there should be a chance to try something."

In the Giro, there are always chances, even on the flattest day of the race.