Roglic flies in Hondarribia ‘chrono’ and he is the first ruler of Itzulia

He is the current champion, he was also in 2018 and started the Itzulia 2022 wearing stripes primoz roglic (Jumbo-Visma) won this Monday’s first stage of the Tour of the Basque Country, a time trial from 7.51 kilometers through the streets of Hondarribia where the forecasts were carried out in a great rivalry between Slovenian and Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), second.

with a time of 9:48, Roglic He flew towards his first victory in this edition of the race, the third in a season in which he already had the Paris-Nice general classification and a stage of the French race in his bag. He did so with dazzling authority, despite the fact that, shortly before he came to the finish line, Evenepoel got a record of 9:53 which seemed to put success on his face.

Hondarribia, with a large presence of fans on the streets, welcomed the presentation of a Tour of the Basque Country which showed two major difficulties in the first test at the time. The first, the ramp to San Telmo, around three kilometers of the stage, after which it is the only intermediate point of the sun (3.1 kilometers). The second, a last part with a stretch of fine cobblestone which pushed cyclists who had to push before reaching the finish line. It prevailed again the hunger of a Roglic who wants to be crowned one more year as the best in a career that very well fits his characteristics.

There are still many stages ahead, although at first only Slovenian and Evenepoel were able to break the ten -minute barrier. Remco He is the one who surpassed his partner with great authority Remi Cavagna (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), who demonstrated credentials to fight for a position of honor with 10: 04.73. Of course, it hasn’t finally served as a win because of the seriousness shown at the beginning by the two stage favorites.

I’m Tulett (Ineos Grenadiers) was the first cyclist to drop below 10:10. At 10: 09.82, he set the first reference time for the remaining runners. His companion overtook him Adam’s Yachts with 10: 06.17, after a good early test, shortly before Ineos as well Geraint Thomas (10: 06.01) ratified the impressive performance of the British team.

Yates and Thomas were the first favorites to climb. Slipped between them Alexander Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe, 10: 06.24) new Remi Cavagna He will present himself as a candidate for victory with a record of 10: 04.73. The Frenchman did so from Quick-Step after flying in the first half where he traced the times of Yates and Thomas and better allocated his strength to the latter part of the route.

No one would be together during the French era. In fact, his countrymen Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) was the one that put him in the most trouble, very close to his time in the intermediate partial. However, the Frenchman lost his record late on stage (10:13), with other big names coming into the race without options, such as Enrique More (Movistar, 10:24), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education, 10:28), a Julian Alaphilippe from the beginning (Deceuninck, 10:32) or the new champion of Volta a Catalunya Sergio Higuita (Bora-hansgrohe, 10:33). The one most prevalent in Cavagna’s time among the important men was a jonas vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) who reached his record in 10:07. To the Spaniards, the best is Ion Izaguirre (Cofidis, 10:08). Off the hook, while, came Mikel Snow (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, 11:25).

favorites did not fail

However, Cavagna knew that three of the big names in the race still crossed the finish line. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), penultimate at the start, had no chance to fight for the stage after setting a time of 10:17.

In part, because the man ahead of him at the finish line flew through the streets of Hondarribia. Remco Evenepoel It got stuck in the early part of the stage, with a strong climb to San Telmo. At 4: 27.06, he was eight seconds ahead of Adam Yates, Cavagna or Geraint Thomas in the first intermediate point. Far from settling for it, he kept pace perfectly in the second half of the race, with a drop where he threatened as much as possible to try to scratch seconds off the clock. Thus, his reward at the finish line was a record of 9: 53.04 that put him first uncontested.

But it is still missing Roglic, who returned to sign a perfect career. The Slovenian fully retained the position in the early part of the quiz where he nailed Evenepoel’s seasons. At 4: 27.62 on the first waypoint, he clarified that he would be coming out at the start. In fact, he didn’t lose his position, he was comfortable and signed a great career finish to fly towards a 9: 48.54 to set the tone from the start: he was Itzulia’s first winner and leader.

This way, the Slovenian leads from the start of a career where he is the top favorite to achieve success, but it won’t give him a break all week. The mountain will go to a final day on Saturday where Arrate will dictate the final sentence.

This Tuesday, Roglic will wear the yellow jersey in the second round of 207.9 kilometers between Leitza and Viana. The third climb in the first part (Uitzi), a long second after kilometer 50 (Lizarraga, 9.5 km at 5.2%) and a third thirty kilometers from the finish line (Aguilar Gaina) will be the main difficulties for the runners . But Roglic said from the start that he was one of the top contenders to leave your signature on the career.

Stage classification and general

Stage 1, Hondarribia-Hondarribia, 7.5 km, CRI
generally
1. Primoz Roglic (Esl/Jumbo-Visma) 9’48 “
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bell/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) at 5 “
3. Rémi Cavagna (Fra/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) in 16 “
4. Geraint Thomas (GBR/Ineos Grenadiers) at 18 “
5. Adam Yates (Gbr/Ineos Grenadiers) id.
6. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus/Bora-hansgrohe) id.
7. Bruno Armirail (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) at 20 ”
8. Ion Izagirre (ESP/Cofidis) ID.
9. Jonas Vingegaard (Din/Jumbo-Visma) id.
10. Ben Tulett (GBR/Ineos Grenadiers) at 21 ”