WORLD time trial champion Remco Evenepoel set the fastest time at the first Tour de France time trial on Friday, gaining valuable time on the yellow jersey, while young Irish rider Ben Healy rode to an impressive ninth place.
After two sprint days, stage seven of the Tour was the first individual time trial of the race.
Racing solo, each rider tackled a 25.3km course which featured a short climb at the halfway point.
Belgian Victor Campenaerts (Lotto) set the early mark, covering the course in 29 minutes and 44 seconds. However, with the main contenders starting later in the day, faster times were expected.
The first to challenge Campenaerts was 23-year-old Irish rider Healy (EF Education – EasyPost). He set off at a blistering pace, clocking in 14 seconds faster than Campenaerts at the first time check.
The 2022 Irish time trial champion, Healy usually knows how to measure an effort but on this occasion, it soon became clear he had set off too hard.
Despite losing time as he approached the finish, Healy stop the clock at 29.51 and finished in ninth place amongst the world’s best riders.
Speaking after the stage, Healy said that he was pleased with his ride despite not managing to maintain his opening pace all the way to the finish:
“Yeah, for sure I had good legs today. I set an ambitious pace and went out with it from the start and just tried to hold on for the descent.
“I couldn’t quite hold it to the finish unfortunately but, yeah, I’m still pretty happy with the ride.”
A rider famous for his long-range attacks, Healy said that he had no plans of racing for the general classification:
“At the moment, I enjoy doing what I do.
“I think being a GC contender is a pretty stressful job and the longer I can delay that the better.”
Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) was the eventual stage winner, finishing in a time of 28.52. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) finished in second, 12 seconds behind, while Primož Roglič (Red Bull - BORA – Hansgrohe) was third.
Despite losing time to his nearest rival, Pogacar retained the yellow jersey and leads the Tour by 33 seconds.
Evenepoel said it was a difficult time trial but he was pleased with to take the win:
“I was on a good day. The climb was actually pretty tough because I wanted to start fast.
“And the descent, when you’re a bit on the limit, it was pretty technical
“But I enjoyed every metre of this TT and coming out with the win is simply amazing. So, yeah, super happy”
