Whipped up by several hundred thousand fans, Tadej Pogacar raced through the completely rainy streets of Copenhagen and shocked the competition right at the start of the Tour de France.
Pogacar takes time off Roglic in the Tour de France opener
In the demanding individual time trial, the 23-year-old from the UAE Team Emirates his biggest rival Primoz Roglic by nine seconds and was also a further second faster than last year's runner-up Jonas Vingegaard (both Jumbo-Visma).
Only the Belgian surprise winner Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and his second-placed compatriot Wout van Aert were faster than Pogacar. "My head is exploding. I came here expecting a top ten and now I've beaten the best riders in the world. I'm just a farmer's son from Belgium. I didn't expect this," said Lampaert, overwhelmed by his emotions and with tears in his eyes. The best German was Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) in 19th place.
Kämna best German in the individual time trial
"It was a strong performance. He didn't take any risks. He is a good rider in the rain. It was a good day for us," said Pogacar's sports director Matxin Fernandez. The dominator himself easily rode the lactate out of his legs on the roll and had his usual grin on his face.
German champion Kämna put in a strong performance and was a little annoyed at the finish for having started too cautiously at the beginning. "That certainly cost me a few seconds," said the 25-year-old, who was 25 seconds slower than Lampaert. "It was a solid time trial, I can be quite satisfied. The legs were quite good, but not outstanding."
A good hour before the first starter, heavy rain set in in Denmark's capital, which was much earlier than forecast. All the top riders had opted for early start times due to the weather - now the conditions were almost identical for everyone. The Nordic weather was of little concern to the fans, who lined the entire 13.2 kilometre course and stood in several rows along the road.
Roglic & Vingegaard almost equal
The first sign was set by Roglic, who made a strong impression. His Jumbo-Visma team-mate Vingegaard was almost on the same time and the duo had already crossed the finish line when Pogacar rolled off the start ramp. At first it looked as if Pogacar wasn't risking much due to the wet conditions. At the intermediate time, the Tour winner of the past two years was five seconds behind his Slovenian compatriot Roglic.
But Pogacar really turned up the heat in the second part of the course. In the end, the cycling prodigy was even faster than Italy's time trial world champion and top favourite Filippo Ganna. Pogacar distanced the competition for the overall victory. Aleksandr Vlasov, captain of the German team Bora-hansgrohe, lost 24 seconds. "It's only the first day. I didn't risk much. I preferred to ride a little slower instead of crashing," said the Russian.
Europol confirms doping investigation
Meanwhile, the European police authority Europol confirmed Doping investigations in the context of the Tour de France for the first time. According to a statement, 14 searches were carried out in six countries between 27 and 30 June, three people were questioned and various items of evidence were seized.
The homes of drivers and team members in Belgium, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Poland and Slovenia were searched. The Marseille public prosecutor's office was in charge. Although Europol did not name the Bahrain-Victorious team, the racing team itself confirmed searches on both Monday and Thursday.
Drugs probably confiscated
According to the newspaper "Le Parisien", which cited the Marseille public prosecutor's office, phones, computers, storage media and prescription drugs were confiscated.
The homes of the Slovenian manager Milan Erzen, the Polish team doctor Piotr Kosielski and the French nurse Barnabé Moulin were searched. Italian pro Damiano Caruso also admitted to "Cyclingnews" that his house in Sicily had been searched.
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