Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl) passes the Little Mermaid statue in his time trial attack in Copenhagen (Image credit: Luca Bettini/SprintCyclingAgency) Image 1 of 37
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Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) claimed a shock victory in the rain-soaked short opening time trial of the 2022 Tour de France, finishing five seconds ahead of top favorite Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) to claim the race’s first post. yellow on the streets of Copenhagen. In what was effectively the first shot of the battle for the overall, Tadej Pogačar (United Arab Emirates Team Emirates) confirmed his status as overall favorite with third place, completing the 13.2km course just seven seconds behind Lampaert and the best of the GC racers. Top contender Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) could only finish fourth after, like many of the TT and GC heavyweights, he opted to start early to try to avoid a completely inaccurate forecast of heavy rain late on. per day, and then suffered a suspected delayed puncture. Although two more favourites, Jonas Vingegaard and team-mate Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) opted to take things cautiously in the wet, extremely slippery corners, they still proved to be Pogačar’s closest rivals on the day, finishing 14 and 15 seconds apart, respectively. , down to Lampaert. But conditions then dried up the party on a short, technical inner-city course in Denmark and the wind dropped, providing a golden opportunity for latecomers to make the most of a marginally less dangerous course, which Lampaert, a former double national champion TT, no doubt it was done to perfection. “My mind is exploding, a top 10 would be great, now I’ve beaten all the best in the world, I never expected it,” said Lampaert, 31. “I can’t believe it, I know I’m in good shape, but this is something I could never dream of, and I did it. Everyone is free to pedal as hard as they can in the time trial, but to beat Van Aert, Van der Poel, Ganna – it’s unbelievable for me.”
How it unfolded
The combination of rain, slippery inner-city road surfaces and technical sections provided something of a stressful start to the 2022 Tour, despite the huge morale boost provided by the huge, cheering crowds along the 13.2km course. And the sight of fan favorite Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost) sliding and crashing twice in near-consecutive corners was a dire warning of the dangers of overcooking the course. On a day where the ongoing investigations into the Bahrain Victorious team ran uncomfortably in the background, Bauke Mollema proved that the Dutch national TT champion’s recent title was no fluke with a strong best time of 15:34. The Trek-Segafredo racer’s spell on the hot seat was quickly cut short, however, when Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) stormed into the final right-hand corner at Tivoli Gardens to finish four seconds faster than his compatriot. As a flurry of favorites crossed the line and as the rain poured down, Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) was later unwilling to blame the bad weather or even the late puncture caused by a piece of glass for a time trial that initially put him on top the stage classification by a minimum of two seconds. The reigning World Time Trial Champion said he did not feel comfortable in the corners, however, and although he had picked up his pace significantly in the second half of the course, when van Aert crossed the line six seconds ahead and Ganna’s hold on the yellow almost slipped away before understand that he had it. According to UAE team sporting director Joxean Fernández Matxin, Pogačar had not chosen to take any risks. If so, his rivals will have been greatly disappointed by the way the Slovenian Tour star managed to outscore the entire GC field by at least eight seconds from his closest pursuer in this category, Jonas Vingegaard. However, if Van Aert’s remarkable run, beating both pre-stadium and pre-tour favourites, looked certain to put him in yellow, fellow Belgian Lampaert turned the tables in spectacular fashion in the final hour . Clearly at home in the technical sections, including a twisty section on a narrow, lake bridge where others were much less comfortable, Lampaert’s strengths in timing and bike handling skills combined to give him a victory well beyond the his expectations. “The roads were still very wet, the potholes full of water, so I always had the same conditions [as the favourite],” Lampaert said afterward. “I’ve always thought in…
