The favourites of the 109th Tour de France have to prove their strength right at the start.
In the 13.2 kilometre individual time trial in Copenhagen, there may already be small gaps between defending champion Tadej Pogacar and the challengers Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard, Aleksandr Vlasov and Geraint Thomas. The favourites on the technical course with over 20 bends are Italy's world champion Filippo Ganna and the Belgian Wout van Aert.
As showers are forecast for Friday afternoon - the first starter leaves the ramp at 4.00 pm - the weather may play a decisive role. Instead of traditionally starting in the last group, the contenders for overall victory have therefore opted for significantly earlier start times.
The Slovenian Primoz Roglic will be the 21st rider to set off at 16:20, with defending champion Tadej Pogacar starting at 17:05. Two minutes before the Slovenian, time trial world champion Filippo Ganna will tackle the 13.2 kilometre course, followed immediately by his biggest rival for the first stage win, Belgium's Wout van Aert. The German time trial champion Lennard Kämna starts his Tour de France at 17.23 hrs. The first starter will set off at 16.00, the last at 18.55.
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