Giro d'Italia 2018 | Stage 1 | Jerusalem / Jerusalem

The Giro d’Italia got underway with a time trial in Jerusalem and Richard Moore and Lionel Birnie were there to see the race resume more or less as it ended last year – with Dutchman Tom Dumoulin in pink.

The world time trial champion pipped Rohan Dennis of BMC Racing by two seconds to take the opening stage, and in this episode we hear from Dumoulin’s Sunweb team-mate Sam Oomen.

We also get the reaction from a disappointed BMC Racing sports director Max Sciandri after Dennis had victory snatched from him at the last.

Chris Froome, who is hoping to add the Giro d’Italia to the Tour de France and Vuelta a España titles he won last year, crashed in his warm-up ride on the course and paid the price, conceding significant ground to Dumoulin. We hear from him and Team Sky’s sports director Nicolas Portal.

One man who was happy at the end of the day was Matt White of Mitchelton-Scott after Simon Yates pulled off the surprise of the day – finishing seventh in the time trial.

The Cycling Podcast is supported by Rapha and Science In Sport.

Become a Friend of the Podcast to get access to a library of feature-length podcasts, the latest episode, In Search of the Pink Panther, Lionel asks why there has been a distinct lack of Belgian Grand Tour winners since 1978 when Johan De Muynck won the Giro d'Italia.