Narvaez wins as Pogacar lights up Giro on day one

Ecuador's Jhonatan Narvaez outsprinted Giro d'Italia favourite Tadej Pogacar to win the opening stage of the first Grand Tour of the year.

Ineos Grenadiers rider Narvaez charged to the finish line in Turin to push Slovenian Pogacar into third, with Germany's Max Schachmann taking second.

UAE Team Emirates rider Pogacar is aiming to complete a rare double - to win the Giro and Tour de France in the same year - a feat that has not been achieved since Marco Pantani in 1998.

He attacked on the final climb, dropping the majority of his rivals for overall victory, and although he was unable to win the stage he already has a handy lead over the likes of Britain's Geraint Thomas.

Narvaez claimed his second stage win in the Giro, having also taken a stage in 2020.

His Ineos team-mate Thomas finished 10 seconds back on the day and lies 11th overall, 20 seconds behind Narvaez once the bonus seconds were taken into account.

Among Pogacar's other expected rivals for the general classification, Colombia's Daniel Martinez and Australia's Ben O'Connor finished alongside Thomas in the peloton, while Spain's Juan Pedro Lopez was a further 10 seconds back - 30 seconds behind in total.

France's Romain Bardet, meanwhile, was 39th, one minute 37 seconds behind the leader.

While Pogacar is already in a strong position, stage winner Narvaez was delighted to deny him an eighth win in just 11 days of competitive racing this year.

"You don't get many chances like that," he said of taking the leader's pink jersey.

"He [Pogacar] launched his sprint too early, after a hard stage like that he went from like 200m. I waited for the 100m mark."

Sunday's second stage is a 161km route from San Francesco al Campo to Santuario di Oropa (Biella) and includes a steep climb to the finish.

1. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu/Ineos Grenadiers) 3hrs 14mins 23secs

2. Max Schachmann (Ger/Bora-hansgrohe) same time

3. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates)

4. Alex Baudin (Fra/Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale) +6secs

5. Nicola Conci (Ita/Alpecin - Deceuninck) +10secs

Also:

10. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) same time

1. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu/Ineos Grenadiers) 3hrs 14mins 13secs

2. Max Schachmann (Ger/Bora-hansgrohe) +3secs

3. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +6secs

4. Alex Baudin (Fra/Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale) +16secs

5. Damiano Caruso (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) +17secs

Also:

11. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +20secs