Yves Lampaert wins Tour de France opening time trial; Tadej Pogacar leads GC contenders

Belgian Yves Lampaert was the surprise winner of the Tour de France’s opening time trial, while two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar gained seconds on his biggest threats.

Lampaert, 31, earned the biggest victory of his career in Copenhagen. He started after all of the favorites and overtook countryman Wout van Aert by four seconds, crossing the 8.2-mile course in 15 minutes, 17 seconds.

Lampaert could scarcely believe it when he realized he won, wiping away tears and putting his hands on his mouth.

“My mind is exploding,” Lampaert said. “I came with expectation a top-10 would be great. Now I beat all the best riders in the world. I’m just a farmer’s son from Belgium. To do this, I never expect it.”

Pogacar was third, seven seconds behind, followed by world time trial champion Filippo Ganna of Italy.

Pogacar gained eight and nine seconds on Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic, respectively, his top rivals to claim the Tour title in Paris in three weeks.

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The rain was teeming when Roglic finished under grey skies shortly after 4:30 p.m., and still lashing when Pogacar set off around 40 minutes later. Even though he is a specialist in the wet, Pogacar looked cautious taking the first turn.

It might have cost him victory.

Riders set off to loud cheers.

“There was so much noise you could hardly hear anything in the earpiece,” French rider David Gaudu said.

Large parts of the Danish capital were shut down. The wet roads made the route treacherous — especially the section across the square of Amalienborg Palace, the main residence of Denmark’s royal family, which is paved with cobblestones.

Swiss rider Stefan Bissegger fell off twice, but continued.

The stage