Primoz Roglic has won the opening stage of the Itzulia, a short but very technical time trial, and will wear the Itzulia yellow leader’s jersey tomorrow.
The day began with a tribute to Hondarribia cyclist, Jon Rodríguez Irastorza, who was run over by a car this year. In doing so, the organisers and the Hondarribia town council wished to pay tribute and support the cyclist’s family.
The riders set off through the cobbled streets of Hondarribia. Ben Tulett (66, IGD) held the fastest time for much of the day with a time of 10’09”. But he was beaten by teammate Adam Yates by just 3″. He didn’t last long in the hot seat however, Geraint Thomas (65, IGD) beat Adam’s time by mere thousandths of a second. Rémi Cavagna (43, QST) matched Yates’ time at the halfway point when he came in first with a 2″ advantage over the fastest time.
The main contenders for the txapela emerged at the end and did not disappoint. Remco Evenepoel (44, QST) outpaced his teammate by 11″ with an overall time of 09’53”. Behind, only Primoz Roglic (1, TJV) was on Remco’s time, equalling him at halfway. But it was in the last stretch on cobblestones where he managed to reel in the Belgian rider and set a finishing time of 09’48” that helped him to win the first stage of the Itzulia 2022 and become the first leader of the general classification.
