Tom Gloag finding his Giro feet

Londoner making his Grand Tour debut after late call-up to Dutch squad,

- Tom Thewlis

At 3am on the morning of the first stage of the Giro d’Italia, almost all of the riders due to take to the start line of the individual time trial in Pescara will have been sound asleep. All except for Jumbo-Visma’s Tom Gloag, who was just arriving at his team’s hotel.

The 21-year-old from south London was an extremely late call-up for the Dutch super squad. Gloag was elsewhere in Europe, training for goals later in the season when Jan Tratnik, the rider he replaced, was hit by a vehicle on a final training ride and taken to hospital.

After receiving the news from medical staff that Tratnik would be unable to start, plans were immediately put into action to rush Gloag to Italy in order for him to join up with his Jumbo team-mates ready for his Grand Tour debut.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly on the first rest day, Jumbo-Visma directeur sportif Addy Engels explained the logistics that saw Gloag arrive in the small hours of the morning.