Nothing will be spared them.
We had promised a daunting start to the Tour de France and all the dangers.
The downpours that fell on Copenhagen this Friday for the inaugural time trial have placed the cursor very high.
And in this little game, it was the Belgian Yves Lampaert who surprised his world.
At the age of 31, the Quick Step Alpha Vinyl rider achieved quite a tour de force by winning ahead of Wout Van Aert.
The Jumbo Visma prodigy thought he had made his technique do the talking on this winding 13.2 km course to win in 15 minutes and 22 seconds.
That is two seconds less than the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, already in very good shape, and three less than the Italian Filippo Ganna.
It was finally his eldest who rode the fastest (15 minutes and 17 seconds) by dumbfounding more than one on the finish line.
By also taking advantage of finally milder weather at the end of the day.
The rain announced after 5 p.m. finally arrived at the start of the race before easing and then disappearing.
If this success comes as a surprise, Lampaert does not come out of nowhere either.
Belgian champion in the specialty in 2017 and 2021, and on the road in 2018, he has also distinguished himself many times on the Classics (winner of À Travers Les Flandres in 2017 and 2018).
🇧🇪 Usurped by another Belgian!
@yveslampaert sets the new best time!
🇧🇪 A Belgian can hide another!
New best time for Yves Lampaert!#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/iJwfVdD7xQ
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 1, 2022
No favorite in the general classification has really disappointed in this first stage.
Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic held their ranks, ten and eleven seconds behind Pogacar respectively.
On the French side, the results are more mixed.
David Gaudu has already lost 45 seconds on the Slovenian and Romain Bardet thirty.
Thibaut Pinot took no risks (+1'21).
Among the few falls, we will precisely note Tricolor Christophe Laporte.
Leaving like a rocket, he had the best intermediate time (ahead of Van Aert!) before his wheel ran out in a bend.
There should still be plenty of twists and turns as of tomorrow in the very tricky flat stage to the west of Copenhagen.