The Quick-Step Floors rider came home in the top 15 after the longest ITT of his pro career.
Week three of the Giro d'Italia kicked off with a testing 34.2km-long individual time trial between Trento, the most important city of the Trento-Alto Adige region, and Rovereto, an important center for the manufacture of silk fabrics in the past, which returned on the course after a 13-year hiatus.
The medium length parcours was a fast one, with just a few rolling sections, especially in the final kilometers – which included some urban cobbles and tricky corners – but overall was suited to the specialists of the discipline. For Grand Tour debutant Maximilian Schachmann, it was the longest individual race against the clock since turning pro, and he didn't disappoint on Tuesday afternoon.
First white jersey of the race, the German impressed despite coming off the back of a weekend in which he struggled. Tucked over the aero bars to save watts and keep the speed, the 24-year-old passed two-minute man Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) and concluded the stage in a solid 15th.
The cyclamen jersey continues to rest on the shoulders of Elia Viviani, who is still well ahead of the competition in the points classification with five stages remaining. Next up will be a 155km-long ride from Riva del Garda to Iseo, in Lombardy.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
