Pogačar clocks impressive time trial in Copenhagen

AFP / Anne-Christine Poujoulat

Tadej Pogačar’s Tour de France began with a confident time trial performance for the UAE Team Emirates.

In the time trial held in Copenhagen, on a city course of 13.2 km, the winner of the last two editions of the Grande Boucle achieved the 3rd best time, 15'24" at 51.385 km/h on average, 7" slower than the winner Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and just 2" from the performance of Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma).

Pogačar's ride in the second part of the stage was particularly effective after setting the 13th time in the first 6.6 km.

The Slovenian athlete was flawless in the remaining kilometres towards the finish line, conquering a place on the day's podium.

Pogačar is already at the top of the youth ranking (17" on Thomas Pidcock, Ineos-Grenadiers) and will wear the white jersey in the 2nd leg, the 202.2 km Roskilde-Nyborg: which will cross the Great Belt Bridge, which will lead the group to pedal completely exposed to the wind for 18 km.

Pogačar said: "It was an excellent opening time trial for this Tour de France, even if the weather conditions were not good, the crowd was exciting and pushed me to give it my all while enjoying the day at the same time."

"Some corners could have been risky, but I didn't take any chances, still managing to put in a very good performance thanks to good legs. It was a nice result also in terms of the general classification."

Stage 1 results and general classification 1 are as follows:

1. Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 15:17 2
2. Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) +5 3"
3. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) +7