Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (Italy) - Press Release: The World Champion smashed the individual time trial, becoming the youngest Belgian in 49 years to win a stage at the race.

Remco Evenepoel powered to an impressive victory on stage 1 of the Giro d’Italia (Fossacesia Marina – Ortona, 19.6km) – where he returned after two years – putting some considerable time into his opponents and claiming the coveted maglia rosa.

Soudal Quick-Step’s leader was a man on a mission Saturday afternoon as he left the start house, wasting no time on the flat roads of Abruzzo and almost instantly opening a big gap on all the other riders as he hit a maximum speed exceeding 60km/h. At the half-way mark, the 23-year-old Belgian ITT Champion was more than twenty seconds up on the previous benchmark, and he showed no intention of slowing down, as he prepared to tackle the 2.8km climb to the finish.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images.