Primoz Roglic drives wrong but wins opening time trial Tour of the Basque Country, Remco Evenepoel loses 11 seconds after early fall

The top favorites started early in Irún. The technical part of the time trial contained quite a few cobblestones that could become slippery when it rains. Because showers were forecast later in the day, Evenepoel and co. so to get started on time. Who did not appear at the start was Tom Pidcock. The Brit fell heavily during the reconnaissance and went to hospital for examination.

But even without rain it was not easy to stay straight on the winding course. Evenepoel saw his chances of victory go up in smoke after just 20 seconds after he crashed in one of the first corners. A fall from which the ‘Aerokogel van Schepdaal’ lost nothing, but in which he lost about ten seconds. At the first intermediate point he was already 9 seconds behind.

Evenepoel eventually completed the ten kilometers in a time of 12’45”. The time trial world champion ended up 11 seconds behind Primoz Roglic. He achieved a virtual third place, after the Dane Mattias Skjelmose.

Roglic had driven to a gun time of 12’34” fifteen minutes earlier. He pulverized Juan Ayuso’s time by no less than 16 seconds. However, the Slovenian could have set a faster time, because with the finish in sight he made a wrong turn and had to make a U-turn.

Just like Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard also gritted his teeth about his ex-teammate’s top time. The Danish two-time Tour winner had to give in 15 seconds to Roglic, who seemed to be preparing for more than two hours in the hot seat. And there the Slovenian had a good laugh with his own miss.

“I made a mistake,” he grinned in his first response. “I think I explored a bit too much beforehand. I had always gone right into the fork then, so I did it again. But I quickly realized that the finish line wasn’t coming, even though I should have been there already. So I had to turn around, back to the finish. Fortunately, it didn’t really determine the outcome.”

Many attempts, but in vain

While Roglic in the hot seat was staying, suddenly Isaac Del Toro was there. The young Mexican from UAE Team Emirates dived at the first intermediate point with 8 seconds under Roglic’s time. But it turned out: Del Toro had completely misorganized his time trial and was ultimately 24 seconds slower than the Slovenian at the finish.

Jay Vine, also from the UAE stable, also challenged Roglic. But the Australian finally had to give in to the leader of BORA-hansgrohe by 7 seconds. That meant that Vine bumped Remco Evenepoel from third place.

Ethan Hayter was the last rider to come close to Roglic. The Briton from Ineos Grenadiers arrived at the intermediate point only one second slower. But then the floodgates opened irrevocably in the Basque Country. Hayter no longer had a chance and finally finished 19 seconds behind the Slovenian.

The first stage in line is scheduled for Tuesday in the Basque Country. The peloton will then have 160 km to cover between the starting point of Irún and the finish in Kanbo. There are constant ups and downs along the way, but a sprint with a large group is certainly possible.

The Tour of the Basque Country ends on Sunday. Last year the overall victory went to Jonas Vingegaard. Primoz Roglic has already won the Basque cycling tour twice: in 2018 and 2021.