Joshua TARLING. 10 with honors. He had been going around saying he was thinking about the Lucca time trial, but since he was here, he thought he might as well take today's one in Tirana. Joshua is a magnificent 21-year-old who tames time with noble and chronometric elegance. He doesn't win by a landslide, but he wins. He seems to suffer more on the hot seat than on his Pinarello Bolide. "Roglic really scared me," he says exhausted. But beating him was no walk in the park.

Primoz ROGLIC. 10 with honors. He loses by a hair, by a tear, but today there's nothing to cry about. Sumptuous time trial, of absolute level, lost by a few centimeters, by a few millimeters. He loses but wins, because he wears the pink jersey. He, "the genuflector", genuflects on the stage to remember his past as a ski jumping champion, we simply bow.

Jay VINE. 9. He's the third force and what a force. Magnificent performance for the 29-year-old Australian from UAE Team Emirates. A level performance that says one thing: Jay is here.

Edoardo AFFINI. 8. The man from Mantua was also saying that his time trial was in Lucca, but whenever there are time trials, Edo tries.

Mathias VACEK. 9. Yesterday he led out Pedersen, today he leads himself out: 14 kilometers starting strong, continuing strong, concluding extremely strong. Level time trial, white jersey for best young rider, third overall just 5" from the pink jersey, which he dreams of...

Daan HOOLE. 7. The 26-year-old Dutch rider shows a great attitude and excellent condition: Lidl Trek is no joke.

Mads PEDERSEN. 10. They had written him off and he loses the pink jersey by just one second. But as the unforgettable Ennio Doris would have said, there's always tomorrow.

Brandon MCNULTY. 7. Does his job, like a good time trialist, a good team player, a guy of absolute talent and seriousness.

Ethan HAYTER. 6.5. The 26-year-old Brit tries to keep Soudal Quick-Step's morale high.

Juan AYUSO. 6. Gains on everyone, but loses too much to a super Roglic, who takes 16" from him: good, but not great.

Isaac DEL TORO. 8. He's only 21, but he has so many things. So many.

Antonio TIBERI. 5.5. He's a specialist, but today, beyond Roglic's dominance, he has too many riders ahead. He had some issues just before the Giro, patience is needed, the race has just started, in any case he's here.

Giulio PELLIZZARI. 7.5. The young guy is growing by pedaling, even in a time trial. Now he's tenth overall. Obviously, Roglic will have work to do, but Giulio has only to learn.

Michael STORER. 6.5. He arrives at the Giro with Tota in his palmares and more than justified dreams of being one of this pink race's surprises.

Thymen ARESMAN. 7. More than honest in the time trial, extremely honest in post-race statements: "I didn't think yesterday's stage was so hard, I suffered hell, I thank the team for helping me stay and leave a bad day behind". For the time trial 6, for the statements 8: average 7.

Richard CARAPAZ. 5. Slow progress, even in the time trial.

Wout VAN AERT. 6. Something's not right, he's not the real Wout. I have too much respect for the Belgian champion, for this rider I've always appreciated for class and generosity. This is not my Wout, our Wout: allow me a political 6, an encouragement.

Tom PIDCOCK. 5. I expected a completely different start. I don't think I'm the only one...

Egan BERNAL. 5. Among the big names, he looks the smallest. It's true that the time trial bike reminds him of something not nice, that scary accident with a bus, but Egan today went really too slow.

Luke PLAPP. 17. The Australian time trial champion from Jayco AlUla takes a corner badly, loses grip and ends up legs in the air: plap. He falls as he had already fallen in the Paris Olympic time trial, today he does it again. I call upon the legendary Marcello Marchesi, a man of brilliant quips: "God help you", without the apostrophe, is it blasphemy?