Pedersen wins Giro opener as Landa injured in crash

Denmark's Mads Pedersen outsprinted Wout van Aert to win the first stage of the Giro d'Italia in Albania.

Britain's Tom Pidcock finished fifth for his new Q36.5 team, in a race in which the 25-year-old hopes to contend for the coveted overall pink jersey and also win stages.

But another contender for pink, Mikel Landa of Spain, crashed violently with about 5km to go, with the Soudal-Quick Step rider appearing to collide with a lamppost on the approach to the centre of Albania's capital city Tirana.

He was placed in an ambulance at the scene and has subsequently abandoned the race.

Lidl-Trek's Pedersen will wear pink in Saturday's second-stage time trial after benefiting from the pace set by his team-mates on the front of the peloton over the final Surrel climb, which saw the pure sprinters in the race dropped from the leading bunch.

"It's absolutely amazing, especially after the team work like this, it's really incredible that the team works that hard and I can pay them back with a win," he said.

Pedersen is a highly decorated rider, having won the 2019 Road World Championship, one-day classics and now his seventh Grand Tour stage.

The 29-year-old beat Visma-Lease A Bike's Van Aert to the line by a wheel - the Belgian is expected to be Pedersen's main rival for the ciclamino-coloured points jersey.

An exhausted Van Aert said afterwards: "You only get one or two chances to take pink, but on that last climb I struggled to stay in."

It was a typically dramatic first stage for the Giro, on unknown roads in Albania, which is hosting the start of a Grand Tour for the first time.

During the final two climbs many riders lost touch with the peloton, including sprinters Kaden Groves and Olav Kooij, because the pace was so high, even though the climbs themselves were not considered to be overly difficult.

But the real surprises came in the battle for the general classification. Canada's Derek Gee was dropped from the peloton for Israel-Premier Tech, losing almost a minute, and Ineos Grenadiers' Thymen Arensman lost over a minute and a half.

Then, the often luckless Spaniard Landa was left writhing in pain on the pavement, his bike lying at the bottom of a lamppost.

The crash saw other riders come to grief as they took evasive action in the ensuing melee, including France's Geoffrey Bouchard of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.

Saturday's time trial sees riders take a 13.7km test against the clock around the streets of Tirana, with Pedersen expected to relinquish the pink jersey to a specialist in the discipline.