Ken Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma), smiling wryly as he crossed the finish line on Via Dante, saw Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) already on his way to the podium, waiting for his first Giro d'Italia pink jersey. The Dutchman, who had the ignominious distinction of being Ganna's alter ego in the opening time trial, must have known that the world champion was likely to make up the 60-second distance in the plunge from Monreale to Palermo.

Ganna, who had won the rainbow jersey in Imola a week earlier, was also the overwhelming favorite to win the Maria Rosa in Sicily. Instead, all eyes were on Ganna to see if he could beat the 58.874 km/h average speed set by Rick Verbrugghe in the 7.6 km Pescara prologue of the 2001 Giro d'Italia.

Ganna came surprisingly close, averaging 58.831 km/h over the mainly downhill 15.1 km course. Bouman seemed prepared for a sonic boom when Ganna closed in on Via Roma with less than 4 km to go. The Jumbo Visma rider pulled aside and watched as the jet passed by him. Then, like the rest of the riders, he chased the airplane cloud as far as he could to the finish line.

By the time Ganna finished the time trial, there were still over 70 riders at the finish line, but Maglia Rosa's fate had already been decided. Ganna took the stage win by 22 seconds over youngsters Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Mikkel Bjarg (UAE Team Emirates), while Ineos' teammate Geraint Thomas finished fourth, 23 seconds behind, to take the GC men's crown. Despite the shortness of the course, only 24 riders were able to keep the gap to the Italians to one minute.

"It was a good time trial, but difficult," said Thomas. "Luckily we had Dario Cioni in the team car, who gave us some important information. He kept me informed of everything, right down to the last manhole cover. He was extremely important. I could see the rider was down, so I had to pay close attention."

Indeed, Victor Kampenaerts (NTT Pro Cycling) crashed early in the day on the descent from Monreale and lamented the condition of the road surface on the flat section in Palermo. Meanwhile, Ganna's teammate Rohan Dennis confessed that he struggled to keep control of his time trial machine in the gusty winds

.

While Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) casually revealed that he had reached a top speed of 101 km/h on the fastest part of the downhill, Ganna explained that he had chosen to ride more carefully (albeit relatively) at that point.

"My top speed was 92 km/h. Like I said, I didn't want to take any senseless risks," Ganna said.

The absence of newly crowned time trial world champion and 2019 Giro winner Richard Kalapas gave Ganna the chance to be the last one to depart in Saturday's time trial. He and his Ineos Grenadiers team chose the mid-afternoon time slot, citing the forecast wind conditions. This choice seemed to be a wise one, as evidenced by the fact that Thomas, who started in the wave just ahead of Ganna, was well ahead of his rivals in the overall competition.

"As for the rainbow jersey, I should have started from the back of the pack, but I was allowed to change and I watched the weather and found the best time to start," said Ganna, who set the seventh fastest time on the early 1km climb to the cathedral in Monreale.

He averaged nearly 70 km/h on the next 8 km downhill, setting the best time on the second intermediate check. On the final leg through the center of Palermo, he opened up a few more seconds on Bjerg and Almeida.

"It was definitely the hardest part of the ride down at that speed. 'A lot of people were having a hard time steering their bikes. But we managed to stay calm and bring the bikes home.

On Rai TV's Processo alla Tappa analysis program, Giro director Mauro Veni did not say that Ganna's victory was the desired result, but confessed that he was happy to have the newly crowned world champion in his race.

"I was in Imola last week for Ganna's Impreza, and I must admit that I felt a certain happiness that he would wear that jersey in the first stage," Veni said. It brings even more sparkle to this Grande Partenza."

It also added a new color to Ganna's list of honors. In the past 12 months alone, the 24-year-old has won the Italian time trial title, the rainbow jersey in time trial and Pursuit, and set a new world record in Pursuit. In 2021, if the Tokyo Olympics are held, he will face the extravagant dilemma of whether to aim for the Team Pursuit or the individual time trial. In the more immediate future, he will wear the maglia rosa in his first Grand Tour appearance.

"Filippo, are you dreaming or do you want to wake up?" he was asked in the mixed zone.

"Leave me in this bubble until tomorrow, I'll be fine," said Ganna, who was expected to defend his jersey at the uphill finish in Agrigento. Meanwhile, from the summit of Etna on Monday, he will concentrate on defending Thomas' gains.

"I hope the next 20 days bode well, because I have to remember that I'm here to support Geraint Thomas in his quest for the overall win," Ganna said, but his Ineos team will celebrate the pink jersey with his favorite food, Piemonte He smiled when asked if they would allow Nutella." We're pretty thin on the ground for the start of the Giro, so they might allow us a little bit to boost morale for a few days."