Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) conquered the wet conditions on the opening Tour de France 2022 stage in Copenhagen to finish the best of the pre-race favourites for the overall win.
"It has been a really good day. I enjoyed the course despite the rain, “ said Pogačar. “I went full gas from the start to the finish. The rain made the time trial a bit stressful, as these slippery conditions never help.
“Anyway, on the first corners I saw the conditions were not so bad, and from then on I took it corner by corner. I felt confident, without taking too many risks.”
The two-time Tour de France winner finished third on the stage, seven seconds behind winner Yves Lampaert (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl). Crucially, he took time on his major rivals, holding a slim lead over Jumbo-Visma pair Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič.
He gained more substantial time over all the other contenders for the overall victory, his chances at victory already taking a boost with his early race performance.
“I clocked a very good time and I am in a great position in the GC to go into the first week,” said Pogačar. “I’m happy with my performance and super happy to be in the white jersey. This has been the first test of the Tour de France, not super long but still demanding.
The 23-year-old looked ahead to the second stage with wariness, the wide open roads, including a 18-kilometre bridge seem set to provide the opportunity for crosswind carnage in the finale of the stage.
“Tomorrow will be a stressful stage,” said Pogačar. “You never know what is going to happen. I have a good team to support me and we will have to be very careful as it’s sure it will be a hard day."
The Tour de France continues on SBS with Stage 2, a 199 kilometre route from Roskilde to Nyborg. Watch from 8.05pm AEST on the SBS ŠKODA Tour Tracker, with SBS television and SBS On Demand coverage starting at 8.30pm AEST.
