Mads Pedersen powers into Pink with Stage 1 win at Giro d'Italia, Mikel Landa crashes out, Thymen Arensman ships time

Tirana [Albania], May 10 (ANI): Mads Pedersen profited from a textbook ride from his Lidl-Trek teammates as he won Stage 1 at the Giro d'Italia in Albania to secure the first maglia rosa.
Lidl-Trek were active on the front of the peloton throughout, with their infernal tempo proving too hot for GC hopeful Thymen Arensman, who shipped time. Meanwhile, Mikel Landa was taken away on a stretcher after a nasty late crash, as per a press release.
Lidl-Trek put in a masterclass in Albania to whittle down the peloton over two ascents of a tough finishing climb before propelling their man Mads Pedersen to victory and the pink jersey in Tirana.
Danish powerhouse Pedersen launched from the wheel of team-mate Mathias Vacek, exiting the final bend before holding off a late surge by Belgium's Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike). Venezuela's Orluis Aular (Movistar) took third place while Britain's Tom Pidcock (Q35.6 Pro Cycling) finished fifth on his Giro debut.
A nasty crash on the final descent with five kilometres remaining resulted in Spanish veteran Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) being taken to the hospital. Several big-name riders for the general classification - notably Dutchman Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) and Canada's Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) - were also distanced on the second ascent of the finish climb as Lidl-Trek put down the hammer.
"That was the exact plan - to push really hard on the climb, make it a smaller group and then a sprint," Pedersen explained after the 51st win of his career. The 29-year-old Dane also admitted that he did not underestimate Van Aert, who battled back after being put in trouble on the final climb before pushing Pedersen all the way to the line.
"You always have to be afraid of Wout [van Aert]. He's a really, really good bike rider, and it's not a given to win when he's in the group. You have to handle that with respect and a bit of fear as well. But today I had the legs to finish it off for the team," he said as per a Eurosport press release.
Gee crossed the line in a chasing group 57 seconds down on the leaders while Arensman shipped a whopping 1'35" and Spain's Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) well over five minutes. But the news was even worse for Basque veteran Landa, whose race was ended by a high-speed collision with a lamppost.
Australia's Jay Vine (UAE Emirates-XRG) also came down in the crash and crossed the line four minutes down on Pedersen. Earlier in the stage, Vine's team-mate Juan Ayuso - one of the pre-race favourites - hit the deck ahead of the race's first climb.
Spanish debutante Ayuso was able to ride back into contention and finished safely in the main group alongside the likes Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe duo Primoz Roglic and Jai Hindley, and the Yates brothers, Adam (UAE) and Simon (Visma).
Joining 2021 stage winner Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarche-Wanty) in this move were Italians Alessandro Verre (Arkea B&B Hotels), Alessandro Tonelli (Polti VisitMalta) and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane), and the Belgian Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis).
The quintet combined well but never saw their lead grow above two minutes. Van der Hoorn was the first to be dropped on the Cat 2 climb of Cracen, where Moniquet pipped Verre to the king of the mountain points to do enough to secure the race's first maglia azzurra.
Lidl-Trek's fast tempo soon ended the hopes of sprinters Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Olav Kooij (Visma) as the pack was whittled down ahead of the bell. On the second ascent, Italian climber Giulio Ciccone took the reins from Spanish veteran Carlos Verona to inflict yet more damage - this time jettisoning the Australian sprinter Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) before putting GC contenders Gee and Arensman into the red.
After Ciccone led the riders over the summit, the pack was split near the bottom of the fast, technical descent into Tirana when Landa skidded off the road via a lamppost. Vine was among the handful of riders who also hit the deck as a huge split meant just 35 riders contested the sprint.
Van Aert found himself a bit boxed in by Aular but still managed to push Pedersen all the way - a sign that he could soon end his eight-month wait for a victory. If not that elusive win, Sunday's 13.7km individual time trial could at least offer Van Aert the chance to prise the pink from Pedersen's back. Just four seconds separate the Dane and the Belgian in the general classification, with Roglic among a raft of GC riders a further six seconds back.
"It's the first leader's jersey I have from a Grand Tour, so that's nice," Pedersen admitted after picking up the second Giro stage win of his career. "To win the stage and go in the pink jersey is absolutely amazing - especially after teamwork like this. It's really incredible that the team works this hard and I can pay it back like this," he added. (ANI)