Gabriele Raccagni sets our best time in the opening time trial of the Giro Next Gen

The revamped Giro Next Gen, formerly Giro d’Italia U23, got underway on Sunday with a 9.4 kilometre time trial starting and finishing near the beautiful Ducal Palace of Agliè, in Piemonte, where the victory and the first maglia rosa went to the current European champion of the discipline: Belgian Alec Segaert. The Lotto-Dstny Development rider, a great specialist, rode at almost 52.5 km/h to set an unbeatable time of 10’45”.

For the quintet of the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team U23, the time trial was a taste of what is to come. The best time was set by Gabriele Raccagni (11’49”) with Fran Muñoz stopping the clock at 12’12”). Separated by hundredths of a second were Ramón Fernández and Andrea Montoli (12’16”). Arnau Gilabert, the first of the team’s riders to start his participation, finished with 12’18”.

This Monday, the first day in line will connect the towns of San Francesco al Canpo and Cherasco. There will be 151 kilometres of stage in which two mountain climbs, La Morra and Novello, will have to be managed, and a final circuit that also presents some steep slopes and a trap near the finish: a wall of about 600 metres with a gradient of 11% in the penultimate kilometre. A finish that may not be the most suitable for pure sprinters.