1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 32-00
2. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ, at 19s
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma, at 27
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Hello there CW readers, Alex Ballinger here starting the day off with live coverage from the first time trial of the 2021 Tour de France.
I know TTs are Marmite in a Grand Tour, but I'm personally a big fan of the race against the clock (both to watch and to race).
Here's the profile for today's stage, it's an almost pan-flat 27.2km and should suit the pure TTers.
Today at the Tour: It's time trial day! 27.2 flat kilometres from Changé to Laval Espace Mayenne.Will Mathieu van der Poel keep the yellow jersey? #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/525K7JlqFRJune 30, 2021
My colleague Tim Bonville-Ginn drew the short straw and has compiled the full start times from today's TT, also picking out a few of the favourites so you know when to get your eyes back on the race.
The first rider off will be Amund Grøndahl Jansen from Team BikeExchange, who will be hitting the start ramp at 12.15pm local time (that's 11.15am British time).
Mathieu van der Poel will start the TT last as he's the yellow jersey wearer. He's off at 4.50pm French time (3.50pm British time).
The yellow jersey battle is probably the biggest headline from this upcoming stage, as Mathieu van der Poel goes into the TT with just an eight second lead over Julian Alaphilippe in second place.
BUT, it's going to be a huge ask for Van der Poel to hold onto the jersey and he has admitted himself he's not a time trialist and he doesn't spend much time at all on the TT bike.
(Image credit: Getty)
Julian Alaphilippe has been stellar in time trials in recent seasons, but he thrives more on a punchy TT course that lets his lightweight climbing ability shine through.
So instead we might be looking to a pure TTer who is still high on GC, maybe someone like Wout van Aert...
The Jumbo-Visma star currently sits fourth overall, 31 seconds off the race lead, while he's also among the favourites to take stage honours.
Can Van Aert take the lead in the Tour de France for the first time in his career?
Along with the battle for the yellow jersey, we also have the fight for the stage honours.
This course looks well-suited to the TT big dogs, the ones who can put out a huge amount of power on the flats, I'm talking Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), or maybe even Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo).
Stefan Küng
(Image credit: Getty)
Victor Campenaerts is always worth a mention in a TT, but the Qhubeka-NextHash rider has been super inconsistent (sorry Victor) in Grand Tour time trials so it would take quite a performance for him to compete against the likes of Van Aert and Küng.
The 2021 Tour de France is definitely missing some of the biggest names as well, with no Filippo Ganna or Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers), but we should still have a great battle for the stage.
We've just got word from our reporter on the ground Jonny Long, who is currently at the start village in Changé.
Jonny said we've got the typical start town chaos this morning, with Alejandro Valverde, Enric Mas and Miguel Ángel López from Movistar all trying to weave their way through the publicity caravan and parked cars during their warm ups.
It's also very overcast over in France, with the feeling that the right might start at any moment. That could make things very tricky.
(Image credit: Future)
So I've twisted the arms of our CyclingWeekly.com team working today's time trial to get them on the record with their predictions for the day.
Here's how they see it:
Tim Bonville-Ginn: Stage winner, Stefan Küng. Yellow jersey, Wout van Aert
Chris Marshall-Bell: Stage winner Brandon McNulty. Yellow jersey, Wout van Aert
Me: Stage winner, Wout van Aert. Yellow jersey, Julian Alaphilippe
Jumbo-Visma have been out doing their recon of the course this morning
🇫🇷 #TDF2021 Time for some recon this morning 👀 pic.twitter.com/KpfsTH4Z6KJune 30, 2021
In case you're worried that yesterday was just some beautiful dream, I can confirm that Mark Cavendish did in fact win a stage of the Tour de France and England did in fact beat Germany 2-0 in the Euros. Not a bad day of sport eh?
Our editor Simon Richardson has had an excuse to update his list of all of Mark Cavendish's Tour de France stage wins with his latest victory in Fougéres.
Jonny Long has now hit us with his clairvoyance for today's stage, here's how he sees it playing out:
They were pumping out 'I'm still standing by Elton John and the Jay-Z version of It's a hard knock life. Therefore, someone big is going to crash (again), for the stage I'll go with Bissegger and let's go Alaphilippe to be in yellow, just to spice things up
We're underway out in France!
First two riders are on the course, Amund Grøndahl Jansen (BikeExchange) and Russo from Arkéa-Samsic.
Britain's Dan McLay is on the start ramp now
We're well underway now! German time trial champion Tony Martin is out on the course. It's been a rough start for the Jumbo-Visma man, who's crashed multiple times so far.
Martin isn't the TTer he used to be when it comes to a world class field like the Tour de France, but he'll still give us a good benchmark time to compare.
First impressions of the course is that the official TdF profile doesn't give an accurate picture. There are a few nasty uncategorised ramps early on the course that are really slowing down the heavier riders.
Pacing that first section will be key to a strong time later in the course.
Chris Froome hits the course.
He's a VERY long way down in GC and is really not expected to do much today, but seeing Froome in the Tour de France is a success in itself, first after his career-threatening crash in 2019 and after hie nasty fall on the opening stage of the race.
Talking of crashes, the injured list is going to be decisive in this time trial, as a number of the race favourites are nursing serious injuries suffered in the opening stages.
Most notably, Primož Roglič is bruised and battered after he crashed in the final 10km of stage three, while Geraint Thomas is also nursing injuries after he dislocated his shoulder early on stage three. After a race doctor popped his shoulder back in, Thomas was able to continue.
Primož Roglič bandaged up before the start of stage four of the Tour de France
(Image credit: Instagram/primozroglic)
Both Roglič and Thomas were treated to an easy day on stage four, but their injuries could seriously hamper their performance on the TT bike.
Thomas particularly may struggle with his shoulder when he's in the aero tuck position, while Roglič is covered in grazes that will be affecting his sleep and may sting in a skin-tight skinsuit.
(Image credit: Getty)
The first riders are through the intermediate timing check 8.8km into the 27km course.
T Martin is fastest (unsurprisingly) with a time of 11-58, average speed of 44km/h.
The second half of the course should be faster.
Right we're getting some finish times out on the course now!
Tony Martin has set the fastest time so far with seven riders done for the day.
Martin's time was 35-33, average speed of 45km/h.
But his team-mate Sepp Kuss is still out on the course and looking strong, as is Mikkel Bjerg from UAE Team Emirates.
Bjerg has the fastest time at the first timing check 8.8km into the course, 11-09.
Tony Martin has finished his ride with the current fastest time.
He was interview by TV journalists at the finish, here's what he said about his ride: "It's a nice parcours, nice atmosphere, great fans on the side. I was going fast but not all in. I felt my body needs some rest after the big crash on the first day. So for me it was more an easy day. I had to go fast because there's a time limit but I wasn't going all in."
Martin was also asked about his team-mate Roglič, who is nursing injuries from stage three: "Maybe I can give him some tips. He has to see how his condition is. I can imagine he'll have some pain, but I know Primož is a fighter and he'll come through it."
Tony Martin during his Tour de France time trial
(Image credit: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images)
Chris Froome has finished his ride as well, but as expected he didn't set the world on fire.
He currently has the seventh fastest time with 17 riders finished - 36-20, with a speed of 44.9km/h.
New fastest times!
Jumbo-Visma are dominating the leaderboard right now with 1-2-3.
Sepp Kuss is fastest with a 33-58, followed by Mike Teunissen on 25-23, and Tony Martin with 35-33.
But Mikkel Bjerg is out on the road and crushing the course, he's looking good to top the leaderboard when he finishes in 7km.
Wow we have a storming new time from Mikkel Bjerg.
The 2019 Under-23 TT champion gave everything on his ride, knocking 53 seconds off the previous fastest time.
Bjerg now sits in the hot-seat with a time of 33-01. It looks like that time will stand for some time with no-one getting closing at the intermediate timing checks yet.
BREAKING: A huge new rivalry has broken out during the stage five time trial.
Okay fine, I might be overstating it a little bit...
But Pierre Rolland has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged Stefan Küng to catch him,
Rolland starts three minutes ahead of the Swiss rider, but can he hold off the stage favourite?!
Aujourd'hui, @stefankueng s'élance 3 minutes après moi. Est-ce que vous pensez qu'un Suisse va (encore) manger un Français ? 😅 #TDF2021June 30, 2021
Rolland said: "Today Stefan Küng, sets off 3 minutes after me. Do you think that a Swiss will (again) eat a French?#TDF202"
To which Küng responded: "In any case I'm hungry"
We've had a quick update from our reporter on the ground Jonny Long.
The rain is starting to fall at the finish, nothing major but a few drops that could start to build up and make the course a little sketchy.
It's also a cool day which will be welcomed by the riders in their skinsuits. It can get insanely hot racing a TT in aero kit.
If the rain starts to fall properly that could really change the shape of the race.
Mikkel Bjerg has given his thoughts after his storming ride in the TT, as he currently sits in the hot seat with no real challengers.
The Dane from UAE Team Emirates said: "It was super hard. I decided to give everything after my crash on stage one. My coach said go full gas and I gave everything I had.
"In the last corner it's new asphalt and it started raining five minutes ago and it was a bit slippery in the last corner. I managed to stay upright.
"Tje start is really hard with the climbs but I just decided to do everything I could and see how long I could hold the pace. I'm quite happy with my perfeoamnce.
"If it keeps raining, then maybe [I can win]. I hope top-10."
Right it's time for me to take a brief lunch break so I'm refreshed and ready to blog through the rest of the day.
I'm gonna hand over to my esteemed colleague Tim Bonville-Ginn, who will be talking you through the next hour of action
Enjoy!
Thanks a lot, Alex! He will be back for the big names in the GC later, but I'll be with you for a while and we have a big favourite for the day coming up soon with Swiss star, Stefan Bissegger coming up in 10 minutes.
But, the rain is really coming down now as Jonathan Castroviejo sets off on his ride. He's an excellent time trialer, but its unlikely that anyone, aside from Thomas, Carapaz and maybe Porte really going for it on the TT.
If you want to check when your favourite riders are setting off, make sure to check out our start times piece.
Meanwhile, on the Alt Tour with Lachlan Morton, he is a full stage ahead of the Tour de France peloton on his huge ride around the Tour route, including transfers with no support.
It's time for Stefan Bissegger, no visor but with the specialially aero Poc helmet and a very smart aero skin suit.
Can he beat his big rival of Stefan Küng as well as Wout van Aert?
Brand McNulty, Chris Marshall-Bell's pick for the day, has set off. I personally doubt he'll put in a fast time as I imagine he will take it easy so he has all the energy for Tadej Pogačar.
Much like Castroviejo as Omar Fraile has just flown past him. You have to feel a lot of riders from Ineos and UAE will take it easy.
Bissegger nearly binned it in a corner due to a motorbike in front of him. He somehow saved it on the wet roads and he is still riding and giving it absolutely everything.
One rider, who will be very disappointed is Canadian Michael Woods. He lost a shed load of time due to crashing on day one. So now he will be waiting for the mountains and joining both team-mates of Froome and Dan Martin looking for a stage win.
McNulty is down! I'm sorry to our writer, Chris. But that seems to be that for the American.
Bissegger, after his dodgy moment, is already 9.33 seconds down on Bjerg at the first check with Victor Campenaerts coming in almost three minutes down.
I tell you what, Omar Fraile is going for it! Just about 35 seconds down on Bjerg at the split, I didn't catch which split it was unfortunately though.
Blimey the rain is really coming down here. Bissegger about to catch his first man on the road who is TotalEnergies rider Cristián Rodríguez
Acttually, I believe that McNulty had a mechanical and a bike change. So he may not be out of it, but he looks to be taking it very easy.
Bissegger is at the second check and he is losing time. He is 19.51 seconds down. That isn't great for the young Swiss rider.
The weather could be gifting the stage to Bjerg here. A superb time on dry roads with everyone else dealing with slippy wet roads.
Fraile coming to the line now and this is a superb time from the Spanish road race champ, just 45 seconds down on Mikkel Bjerg! Very solid ride. He's so so good in the rain.
Once again, I change what happened to McNulty as we finally see him on the static cameras at the first check. Blood flowing down his knees. He is now at risk of possibly missing the time check.
Curse of the Cycling Weekly predictions strike on McNulty. He's over three minutes down.
Luke Rowe has finished his ride with Geraint Thomas in the car just behind him to see what the course it like at race speed.
Meanwhile, Simon Yates has just set off on his ride. He's aiming for a stage win in the mountains. The Alps, by the way, has a bit of a shocking forecast for when the race get there.
Bissegger coming to the finish now and he will miss out on the stage win and I would say it's simply to do with the weather.
He comes in 21.09 seconds down on Mikkel Bjerg who continues to lead.
Dan Martin has just set off on his ride, don't expect a lot from the Irishman as the time trial is really not his top discipline.
Peter Sagan sets off. He's not quite been there as of yet but the Slovakian star is likely biding his time for his push to get green.
McNulty coming in now and he has finished 5-54 down on his team-mate, Bjerg.
Magnus Cort has put on a superb time! He just misses out on the fastest time. He's just six seconds down on fellow Dane, Bjerg! That is an amazing ride from the sprinter who has really worked on his time trial.
Some words from the race from Chris Froome after his ride out against the clock today.
Here is the jazzy aero look that Bissegger was running
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Neilson Powless sets off on his ride and if his team-mate's at EF's runs are anything to go off, he might go rather well.
My pick for the day, Stefan Küng, is setting off in about 10 minutes.
Simon Yates coming to the line with a solid time. Over a minute down on for the lad from Bury in Greater Manchester.
An outsider for today, South African rider, Stefan De Bod of Astana-Premier Tech has set off on his ride.
I believe it has stopped raining and the roads look to be drying up. Pierre Rolland sets off and if you were following this page earlier you will have seen that Rolland challenged Stefan Küng to catch him on the road.
Küng starts three minutes after Rolland, so he'll be off soon, and told Rolland that he's feeling "hungry".
Mattia Cattaneo of Deceuninck - Quick-Step has set off and is well into his ride and leads by six seconds at the first split!
Back to the ramp and the European champion has set off. Stefan Küng is underway. My pick for today has set off at the perfect moment as the roads have dried up very nicely.
Powless has just gone through the first split too and has gone even faster than Cattaneo, the American rider leads Cattaneo by five seconds.
Cattaneo coming through the second split and he is now almost three seconds down on Mikkel Bjerg. Very interesting now that the roads have dried up.
Sagan comes in over three minutes down as he takes it easy to look forward to the next few days.
Richie Porte the next off the ramp. Interesting to see if he's going to go for it, I would imagine he is now in more of a support role but he has set off with some good intent.
He is a few minutes down on the main GC guys unfortunately for him, but he seems to be going for it anyway.
Powless has just passed Guillaume Boivin on course.
Powless has faded dramatically at the second split with him being 27 seconds down on Bjerg now.
Küng flies through the first split nine seconds ahead of Powless who did lead at that point.
On the ramp, Steven Kruijswijk is on his ride.
Cattaneo coming to the line now and this is going to be very close with Bjerg for a potential change in leader.
The Italian flies to the line and he takes the lead by almost six seconds! That's a 32-55 time there. Brilliant ride, but how long will he hold it for?
Big news about the 'Opi-Omi' spectator from stage one.
Oh my word, Küng comes through to the second split and smashes the time by 24 seconds! He is absolutely flying out there!
Powless coming to the line now but he has missed out. Too fast too early from the American, 45 seconds down on Cattaneo.
In Changé and the start ramp, Michael Matthews sets off on his ride for BikeExchange. He was absolutely delighted for Cavendish to win yesterday, maybe he can pull off a win at some point?
Küng has indeed caught Rolland but the Frenchman lasted a lot longer than I thought he was going to.
Søren Kragh Andersen (DSM) has set off now too. He could be another name right up there with a chance of a win today.
Ooh Richie Porte putting in a very good time. The Australian is just 23 seconds down at the second intermediate split, getting him second fastest on the course.
Mattia Cattaneo leads at the moment but Küng only has about 2km to go. Looks like the Italian won't have the lead for long.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Stefan Küng has absolutely obliterated the course and will take the lead of the stage by 36 seconds with a superb time of 32-19!
I will now leave you with the CW web team's own star TT rider, Alex Ballinger who will guide you through the final few riders as I focus on the post race report.
I'm back! Alex Ballinger here catching you up as we get to the sharp end of this race.
As things stand, Stefan Küng is the clear leader (I'm still waiting to find out if he caught Pierre Rolland).
But there's still some serious talent to come, most notably Kasper Asgreen from Deceuninck - Quick-Step who should be a podium contender, and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), who will be hoping to battle through his injuries and score a good time for his GC hopes.
Geraint Thomas is one the course. The Welshman has been dealing with a nasty shoulder injury he picked up on stage three, when he dislocated it in a crash.
Ineos have been putting in a lot of work to try and get him comfortable on the TT bike, we understand.
The TT position to hold at the best of times, never mind when you've got an injured shoulder.
Meanwhile Primož Roglič is looking absolutely supreme.
He's nursing some nasty cuts and grazes after his own crash on stage three, but they're not hampering him right now. He's tearing up the corner, riding on the edge in the turns and is holding a solid frame on the bike in the fast sections.
He's got about a minute to make up on GC if he wants to pull himself back into the fight, but he could take back a big chunk of that with this ride.
We're just waiting for him to hit the first timing check to see how good this ride really is.
Roglič is through the first time check and it's looking very, very good.
After 8.8km he's just seven seconds behind Kasper Asgreen, who was fastest at the first time check.
It's not currently looking like a podium place, but it could be more than enough for a good GC position at the end of the day.
But can Tadej Pogačar react when he starts his ride in the next 30 minutes or so.
Julian Alaphilippe, second on GC, is warming up for his time trial.
The Frenchman is in a very good position to take back the yellow jersey today, if he can put in a strong enough time to hold off the likes of Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
Stefan Küng on his ride: "[I felt] really good. The set-up was perfect. The radio stopped working just before the second intermediate [time check]. It was hard without the radio but I gave it all.
"With this parcours, "you have to go really hard all the time but not too much otherwise you blow.
"I hope it's enough to win today."
Oooh more drama in the fight for the stage, Kasper Asgreen has lost some time to Stefan Küng at the second timing check, 17km into the course.
He's about 17s slower after setting the fastest time in the opening 8.8km.
That's a big margin and I think he's going to struggle to pull that much time back.
Geraint Thomas is through the first time check 8km into the stage. He's the 18th fastest at that point, about 25 seconds slower than the fastest time and around 20 seconds slower than Roglič.
Primož Roglič has the fourth fastest time at the second intermediate time check, 18 seconds slower than Küng.
He's by far the fastest general classification contender so far.
Geraint Thomas has lost more time, he's currently 43 seconds slower than the fastest time at the second check, but is among the best of the GC riders still.
As things stand, Roglič will be right back into the GC fight while Thomas will be slipping back.
But it all depends on the time of Tadej Pogačar.
Pogačar is on the course!
He has the most to gain in this TT, as he's the best placed GC contender at the start of the day and has a phenomenal time trial on him.
If he can match the pace of Roglič, he'll be well ahead on general classification after the stage.
Kasper Asgreen hasn't beaten Stefan Küng.
The Swiss rider is looking very good for the stage win at this point. Wout van Aert is the only rider who might be able to best him.
UPDATE ON THE RIVALRY OF THE DAY:
Stefan Küng did indeed catch Pierre Rolland, who started the minutes ahead of him.
He's not going to win the stage, but he's put in a phenomenal time for his GC hopes. Let's see where he falls after all the riders are home, but it should be good enough to be in the top-10 overall.
He's finished in provisional fourth place on the stage. Absolutely phenomenal ride.
Wout van Aert is on the course, the last of the potential stage winners.
Van Aert has only ridden one time trial this year, but has a 100 per cent success rate after he won the Tirreno-Adriatico TT.
While he has been remarkable against the clock in the past, his pre-Tour preparation was slightly disrupted due to illness, so he may not have his usual form.
Julian Alaphilippe on course.
He won a Tour TT back in 2019 and he's my pick to finish the day in the yellow jersey.
Alaphilippe is eight seconds behind Mathieu van der Poel in the general classification and needs to hold about 30 seconds over Wout van Aert to move into the lead.
Can he do it?
Geraint Thomas has finished, about one minute slower than Küng in provisional ninth place.
While it's far from ideal, it's also far from a disaster from the Welshman. He's lost about 34 seconds to Roglič.
But again this all depends on Pogačar, who could blow them out of the water.
Oh dear, as I said that...Tadej Pogačar has just been unbelievably quick in the first sector of the course.
He hit the first timing check 8km into the stage with the fastest time, around 10 seconds quicker than the rest.
That's absolutely mad for a GC rider, if he keeps this pace up he could win the stage and take the yellow jersey.
Pogačar could take yellow at the end of the day if he keeps this up!
He needs to finish eight seconds quicker than Wout van Aert and 31 seconds faster than Alaphilippe.
So far he has six seconds over Van Aert at the first time check. It's going to be hard to believe if he does it, but let's see how things look after the middle section.
It's happening!
Pogačar passes the second time check 17.2km into the stage with the fastest time.
He's 17s up on Küng.
This is a ride for the ages.
Woah hold up, Mathieu van der Poel has just gone through the first time check with a blistering time.
He's just six seconds slower than Pogačar after 8.8km. If HE keeps this up he'll still be wearing yellow at the end of the day.
Van der Poel needs to finish within 39 seconds of Pogačar's time to hold on to the yellow jersey as things stand.
This is absolutely chaos on the road and I love it.
Who said time trials are boring?!
Wout van Aert is not up there with Pogačar at the second time check. He's 21 seconds slower.
This is absolutely insane.
The reigning champion GC contender Pogačar is absolutely crushing the best time triallists in the world, not to mention his GC rivals.
Wow.
Hard to process what we're seeing here, I can't lie.
But with the current time gaps we have, Van der Poel would hold the yellow jersey with Tadej Pogačar in second overall, 21 seconds down.
I don't think anyone predicted this at the start of the day.
Into the final 2km for Pogačar and he's still looking solid, sprinting out of the saddle on a slight ramp and straight back into TT position.
Tadej Pogačar crosses the line with by far the fastest time of the day
He's 18 seconds quicker than Stefan Küng. Absolutely unreal.
No one else is going to beat him for the stage.
But Mathieu van der Poel looks to be clinging on to yellow with everything he's got. Unreal.
A time trial is an acquired taste, but I can see a lot more cycling fans acquiring it after today.
Wout Van Aert comes to the line.
It's worth remembering that's still an amazing ride, but it's been overshadowed by Pogačar's brilliance.
Van Aert in provisional fourth, 30 seconds slower than the Slovenian.
Could Van der Poel be fading in the final kilometres?
He has 3km left to ride but only nine seconds of a margin to Pogačar.
This is going to be insanely close.
Carapaz loses about 1-43 to Pogačar. He started the day in third overall eight seconds ahead of Pogačar, so it's not a disaster for the Ecuadorian, but he's another rider to fall victim to the brilliance of the reigning champion.
Alaphilippe across the line. He's still very much in the GC fight, but the shake of the head as he crossed the line reveals he wanted more.
Van der Poel! He's sprinting for the line, can he hold on?!?
This is unbelievable stuff, but Van der Poel has kept the yellow jersey.
Tadej Pogačar wins the stage.
Results
Tour de France 2021, stage five: Changé to Laval Espace Mayenne (27.2km ITT)
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 32-00
2. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ, at 19s
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma, at 27
4. Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-VIsma, at 30s
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix, at 31s
6. Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 37s
7. Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma, at 44s
8. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 55s
9. Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time
10. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech, at 1-00
GC after stage five:
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix, in 16-51-41
2. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, at 8s
3. Wout van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma, at 30s
4. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 48s
5. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech, at 1-21
6. Pierre Latour (Fra) Team TotalEnergies, at 1-28
7. Rigoberto Urán (Col) EF Education-Nippo, at 1-29
8. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma, at 1-43
9. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-44
10. Primož Roglič (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma, at 1-48.
Just absolutely phenomenal stuff out there today, still getting my head around it now.
The defending champion now leads Ineos Grenadiers' Richard Carapaz by 1-36, Jumbo-Visma's Primož Roglič by 1-40 and Geraint Thomas by 1-46, and is only eight seconds behind the yellow jersey, Mathieu van der Poel.
"The attacks will come every day probably," Pogačar said, such is the gap he's already got over his rivals this early in the race. "It’s going to be hard but that’s how it is, you're attacking or you're defending. I'm pretty motivated to see how the race develops."
Stefan Küng suffered a huge disappointment today, as he looked to have secured the stage win before Pogačar hit the course.
"I had a really good ride and did a really good performance. I was on top, I knew what I had to do. I've just been beaten by a stronger rider today," said the European time trial champion.
