Jonas Vingegaard has claimed the Yellow Jersey at the Grand Départ of the 113th Tour de France in Barcelona and already put Tadej Pogacar under pressure. In the first team time trial to open the Tour since 1971, the Danish cycling professional from Visma-Lease a bike completed the 19.6-kilometre route with its decisive finale on the Olympic hill of Montjuic in the fastest time. Filippo Ganna of team Netcompany-Ineos followed in second place eight seconds back, while defending champion Pogacar of UAE Emirates-XRG finished third (+12 seconds).
For now he must make do with the mountains jersey, while Vingegaard secured the maillot jaune – boosting his confidence early in the anticipated duel between the two favourites. The result was particularly painful for Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe: with Remco Evenepoel, the time trial world champion, the team from Raubling had hoped for their first stage victory in three years.
Instead, Evenepoel crossed the line fifth, 19 seconds down, while Florian Lipowitz finished eighth (+35). Jai Hindley, who in 2022 was the last rider from the team to lead the general classification, is now only a domestique for the new dual leadership of Evenepoel and Lipowitz.
The controversial format of the discipline made the race tactically complex: the eight riders of each team started together, but only the time of the fastest counted for the stage result – while for the general classification, each rider’s individual time applied. This opened up tactical room for manoeuvre, which not all teams exploited equally well.
The route initially covered around 16 kilometres through classic time trial terrain past Barcelona’s landmarks – along the Olympic harbour and past the Gaudí cathedral Sagrada Familia – with 15 treacherous 90-degree corners. The final section over the closing 3,500 metres was the real test: two uphill passages culminated in the finishing ramp to the Olympic stadium over 800 metres at an average gradient of seven percent.
Visma started as the penultimate team and seized the lead late on, which then also withstood the challenge from Pogacar’s UAE squad..
