The China Mail - Yates wins Giro time-trial, Van der Poel retains lead

Dutch maverick Van der Poel holds onto the pink jersey by 11 seconds from Yates while the 2017 champion Dumoulin is third at 16sec after the inner-city run, the second of three stages in Hungary before a switch to Italy.

Yates timed 9min 50sec round the picture-postcard run around the monuments and sights of the city with its Gothic parliament, the Danube river and thermal baths.

The circuit, with its tight bends and varying surfaces and gradients, made the stage a test of bike-handling skills, although the forecast rain held off.

"It was pretty special," said van der Poel.

"There were a lot of fans yesterday and again today again and I was surprised by the beauty of the city, to be honest."

Third in the Giro last year, Yates has never been known for time-trialling, but with only 26km of the discipline on the 2022 route the mountains are the more important terrain.

"I've only won two time trials. I've done some good ones and some bad ones. But I'm sure this is my best," said Yates, who flew over the cobbled section where others appeared to bounce around.

This was Yates' fifth stage win on the Giro.

"We'll celebrate this tonight but it's a tiny section of the Giro, with all those mountains coming up," he said.

"It was a 12-minute effort today, from Etna on, it will be an hour-long effort. Of course, I'm thrilled to have gained time and not lost any."

Yates led the Giro for almost two weeks in 2018 before a late meltdown and has promised to be more patient this time round.

Van der Poel was rueful of his narrow miss of a second stage win in two days following his triumph at the Visegrad Citadel Friday.

"I would have loved to win, the difference between winning and second is very close, isn't it?" said the Alpecin-Fenix rider who wore the Tour de France yellow jersey, as race leader, for six days last year.

"The best time-trial specialists are not here," he said. "I knew there was a good chance of keeping the jersey. That was the main goal."

"It's a discipline I don't really spend much time on, so I think I can be happy."

Pre-Giro favourite Richard Carapaz came 19th at 28sec, while another fancied rider Romain Bardet was 17th at 24sec.

Astana Qazaqstan's Miguel Angel Lopez and Mikel Landa of Bahrain-Victorious both dropped more time than expected.

Sunday's stage, the last of the Hungarian trio, is a flat 201km race from Kaposvar to Balatonfured. It should end in a mass bunch sprint when Mark Cavendish and the fast men can unleash their speed.

The Giro then goes home to Italy where stage four takes the peloton up the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna on the Island of Sicily of for the first meaningful skirmish between the overall contenders.

"If things go as expected, I should be able to keep the pink jersey until Etna, but then, I think, I will lose it," said van der Poel.

E.Lau--ThChM