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Here’s the full report from Tadej Pogačar’s victory on stage seven. Tomorrow, it’s another mountains test, with a summit finish on the category-one Prati di Tivo. 

Giro d’Italia stage 7 live: Tadej Pogačar betters Filippo Ganna’s time to triumph

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The pink-jersey-wearer takes 17 seconds off Ganna’s time over the line. He finished with 51-44 and significantly extends his Giro d’Italia lead. 

TADEJ POGAČAR WINS THE TIME TRIAL

Giro d'Italia stage 7 time trial

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“Piano,” slow down, says Filippo Ganna, as he watched Pogačar tackle the final 2km. The Slovenian could pip the Ineos Grenadiers rider’s time at the line. 

Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike) crosses the line in 17th provisionally. Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) will take the white jersey off his shoulders after today. 

Pogačar is flying now. He comes through the second time check, at the base of the climb, in third place provisionally, 40 seconds faster than Thomas. 

Juanpe López (Lidl-Trek), who started the day seventh in GC, has just shipped four minutes across the line. That’s his gap to Ganna, remember, so he won’t lose as much in the overall standings.  

Thomas comes through the second time check 1-27 down on Ganna. That makes him the ninth fastest provisionally. 

Thomas and Pogačar are approaching the foot of the decisive final climb. 

There’s probably only around 20 minutes to go in this time trial. Filippo Ganna still leads with a time of 52-01, the next closest rider is Magnus Sheffield, 32 seconds down. There’s still a handful to come home, though.

Tadej Pogačar at the Giro d'Italia

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Pogačar is eight seconds faster than Thomas at the first time check. The difference between the two is marginal, as the wind picks up on the course. 

Geraint Thomas comes through the first of two time checks 52 seconds down on his team-mate, Ganna. He’s the 12th fastest through the marker. 

Despite the murmurs before the stage, no rider has opted for a bike change so far. 

Sixth place provisionally for Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla). Not bad for a rider who spent yesterday in the breakaway. 

The last two riders out on the course, Thomas and Pogačar have the windiest conditions. Crosswinds, to be exact, which aren’t ideal for a disc wheel. 

Pogačar is “off to a rocket start”, according to Eurosport’s Jens Voigt, who is following the Slovenian on a motorbike. 

Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) crosses the line just over a minute down on Ganna. The Italian started the day in 21st, and will break into the top 20. 

Here’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), the last rider down the ramp. 

A strong ride from Thymen Arensman sees the Dutchman take a provisional third place at the finish line. Thats 1-2-3 for Ineos Grenadiers as things stand. 

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) has begun his time trial. He trails Pogačar by 46 seconds on the GC. Can he claw some of that back? 

Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) sets off to the sound of mounting techno. Just Geraint Thomas and Tadej Pogačar to come. 

Cian Uijtdebroeks, fourth on GC, rolls down the ramp. He’s wearing the new Giro helmet, you know, the one that looks like a Star Wars character. Fun fact: A rider is yet to win a time trial wearing it. Could today be the day? 

For those of you keeping score, Pogačar has gone for maroon shorts today. 

Schachmann’s provisional second place lasts all of a few minutes. Magnus Sheffield thunders in 32 seconds down on Ganna. 

Max Schachmann takes a provisional second place over the line. The Bora-Hansgrohe rider comes home 48 seconds down on Ganna. A very solid effort.  

We’re now into our final ten riders. Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost), 10th on GC, begins his time trial. 

Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) is the latest to roll down the ramp. There’s a bit of an Australian takeover going on, with Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) just ahead on the road. 

Things are looking very good for Ineos Grenadiers. Magnus Sheffield clocks the second fastest time at the second time check, 49 seconds down on Ganna. 

Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla), not to be confused with our stage leader, Filippo Ganna, is now out on the course. After this, the riders will start leaving at three-minute intervals. Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) is next. 

Ganna’s average speed throughout the course was 46.831km/h, 1.4km/h faster than Bjerg. 

Filippo Ganna in a time trial

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Ganna has just caught three more riders. I think that makes it eight in total. 

3.8km to go for Ganna, who’s currently hitting over 50km/h on an uphill drag. 

Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) takes the hot seat with 53-40. He won’t be there long though, with Ganna in pursuit.

Ganna is flying. At the foot of the climb, he has just caught the rider who started five minutes before him. 

After all the drama regarding Tadej Pogačar’s skinsuit – the UCI threatening to disqualify him for wearing the wrong colour – the race leader has found a solution for today’s time trial. 

There are 56 riders still to start. Here’s a reminder of some of the key names still to come, and their times, all in BST. 

Filippo Ganna clocks the new fastest time at the first intermediate check. The Italian champion averaged 52.518km/h, almost a whole km/h faster than Cerny. 

Here goes Jan Tratnik for Visma-Lease a Bike on the start ramp. The Slovenian won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this year.

You can see the Ganna incident in a bit more detail here courtesy of @annamacB on X. 

Actually looks like someone caught Ganna on the arm as he started. The Italian appeared to shake his head with frustration as he got going and now we can see this is why. 

Lorenzo Milesi has just taken 20 seconds off Hoole’s lead. The Movistar man is our new stage leader. 

Ganna is off now for Ineos. 

Foss has just crossed the line for Ineos grenadiers. He’s 2:22 down from Daan Hoole. Not the best of rides for the Norwegian. 

Affini has just missed the race lead. He’s finished 10 seconds off Hoole’s time of 54:16 so it’s straight back to the team bus for the Italian. 

Perugia looks beautiful in the afternoon sun. Affini is heading up towards the finish. 

Lidl-Trek’s Daan Hoole is about to hit the finish line. He’s 33 seconds quicker than temporary stage leader Max Walscheid. 

Bjerg has just gone down the start ramp. Let’s see what happens with him. He’s a decent time triallist so could be right up there later this afternoon. 

Mikkel Bjerg will be starting soon for UAE Team Emirates. Apparently he’s been given the green light to really go for it for UAE today with an Olympics spot on the Danish team at stake this summer. 

Dan Lloyd of GCN says he’s not expecting to see any bike changes from some of the favourites today. The reason being its only really the first portion of the climb that’s particularly steep. 

Apparently this is the longest Giro time trial for nine years

The climb at the end looks brutal! A real test for the riders at the end of a time trial. 

As it stands Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike) is the current stage leader out on the road. He’s just going past the 6km to go mark.

Filippo Ganna is on his bike warming up ready for his shot at the race. Is he going to do something big this afternoon? Let us know on X if you think Ganna can take the stage win. 

Jonathan Millan, a stage winner this week, is out on the course now in the maglia ciclamino as the best sprinter. 

Cerny says it was pretty windy out on the course. The flat part had a “cross tailwind” according to the Czech rider. 

Here comes Cerny. He’s beaten Mullen by a minute so is now officially the first leader of the day. 

Mullen is approaching the finish now. He’s over the line with a time of 55:52

Eduardo Affini is looking good out on the course. 

Ryan Mullen (Bora-Hangrohe), second down the ramp, is the first to hit the steep climb near the end of the course. The double-figure gradient has taken the sting out of the average speed. The riders are grinding up it. 

Cerny’s average speed to the first time check was 51.547km/h. 

Former world champion Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers), one of the day’s favourites, rolls down the start ramp. The Norwegian crashed a few days ago, so it’s uncertain whether he’ll attack this course. 

We’ve had a spill. Tobias Lund Andresen (dsm-firmenich PostNL) crashes on a sweeping right-hand bend immediately after the start. He’s back up and on his bike, and looks fine to finish. 

Having started fourth, Josef Cerny (Soudal-Quick Step) is the fastest at the intermediate time check. Ryan Mullen (Bora-Hansgrohe) trails 36 seconds behind. 

Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) is the latest rider to start. He’s bandaged up all along the ride side of his body following a nasty crash earlier in the race. 

Luke Plapp

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We’ve currently got 14 riders out on the course, all heading towards the first timing point just before the 20km mark. We’ll have an idea of how fast they’re going when they get there. 

Geraint Thomas visor

(Image credit: Ineos Grenadiers)

The DJ at the start ramp is playing some serious techno music. The riders seem non-plussed by it. 

STAGE SEVEN BEGINS

Ten minutes until the stage begins, so it’s time for me to lay my cards on the table. I think Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) will take the victory today – he’s fast on the flat, in tremendous form, and is a very punchy climber. 

For those opting for a bike change today, here’s where they’ll do it. There’s a special zone, 30m in length, just before a sharp left-hand bend where the road ramps up.

Bahrain-Victorious in the Rudy Project Wingdream

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Enve's new extension bars spotted on Pogacar's bike

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Check out the flared visor on Geraint Thomas’s KASK TT helmet. The Welshman had a similar design at the Vuelta a España last year, but this one, presumably, is new; it’s stamped with “05/2024”, the current month. 

Giro d'Italia Geraint Thomas bike

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There’s just under an hour and a half until proceedings get underway in Foligno. 

The first rider down the ramp will be Julius van den Berg (dsm-firmenich PostNL), the last placed rider on GC, at 12:10 BST

Let’s start by taking a closer look at today’s course. 





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