Tadej Pogachar dealt a major blow to his opponents' hopes of beating him in the Giro d'Italia in Friday's time trial stage, but Maria Rosa remained cautious afterward, warning that "nothing is over yet."

The UAE Team Emirates rider successfully defeated his opponent in the 40.6km TT stage, beating specialist Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) by 47 seconds at the second intermediate checkpoint to win his first Grand Tour time trial in three years by 17 seconds He finished with a 17-second margin.

Already a stage winner in Oropa and race leader since last Sunday, Pogachar's latest victory puts him 1:49 ahead of his closest GC rival Dani Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe), with Geraint Thomas in second at 2:00.

Overall, Martinez was 2:36 behind, with Thomas 2:46 behind.

However, Pogachar's success again in the time trial put him in pole position for a complete victory and a big warning for the time trial-heavy Tour de France.

"I am surprised myself. I'm very happy because it was a very good day and that was my goal," Pogachar told reporters.

"But I was expecting more closeness, especially from Tomas and Martinez."

"It was a hard day. The time trial, if you don't have super legs, you pay the price on the last climb.

"But we still have a long way to go and the proper climbing stage hasn't started, so nothing is over yet.

The first big mountain stage will take place on Saturday at Prati di Tibo, an 11km climb deep in the Apennines in central Italy, and Pogachar's first time trial event since a disappointing 21st place finish in the World Championship time trial last September There was much to celebrate at the event.

The time trial itself was a tough one, with gentle undulations in the first 34km (where Ganna seemed to have built up an insurmountable advantage: ......) followed by the last 6km of the race. ), followed by a tough climb, including a severely steep section in the last 6km.

Pogachar explained that he wanted to set a good pace without going all out in the early stages, but switched strategies at the second flat intermediate section.

"I started pushing myself more in the corners and in the last 2 km before the climb I tried to save my legs with aero as much as possible. Finally, I attacked the climb at full throttle from the bottom to the top.

"We did several official time checks to close the gap. But the most important thing with the team car today was getting guidance on the tricky corners, especially since the wind was so strong.

"As far as pacing goes, I just focused on myself.

Pogachal's team said before the stage that there were few major changes to his time trial position or equipment, but he "spent hours and hours preparing for this.

"I just tried to be comfortable on the bike because it is very important to be comfortable and still be able to push with power. I won't tell you what exactly I'm doing, because we all do that.

It was also suggested that Pogachar could relax a bit since he had such a big advantage at this point. But the Slovenian again underestimated his advantage and said, "I don't know. I hope so."

"Surely now everyone will attack from afar, go into the break, and look for opportunities," he warned. It's really hard to control the race over the next two weeks," he said.

The Giro is notorious for its unpredictable scenarios, and Pogachar may be right to be cautious. But after only seven days of racing, Pogachar will effectively lose his first Grand Tour of the 2024 season, and his first Grand Tour victory in three years.

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