Defending champ wins opening stage of Giro d’Italia bike race

4 May 2018, 6:01 pm

Edit

Defending champion Tom Dumoulin wins the opening stage of the 101st Giro d’Italia on Friday, edging Rohan Dennis by two seconds to claim the pink jersey.

The Dutchman from Team Sunweb was the last of the 175 riders to start. He finishes the 9.7-kilometer (6-mile) time trial in 12 minutes, 2 seconds.

Thousands lined Jerusalem’s streets to watch the first time a Grand Tour cycling race has ever been held outside Europe.

There are two more stages in Israel. The second leg on Saturday stretches 167 kilometers (104 miles) down the Mediterranean coast from Haifa to Tel Aviv. Stage 3 will follow a 229-kilometer (143-mile) route from Beersheba in the Negev desert down to Israel’s southern tip of Eilat.

The Giro will end in Rome on May 27.

— AP