A good hour before the first starter, heavy rain began to fall in Denmark’s capital, much earlier than predicted. All the top drivers had decided to start early because of the weather – now the conditions were almost identical for everyone. The fans cared about the Nordic weather little, they lined the entire 13.2-kilometer course and stood in several rows along the road.
The first sign was set by Roglic, who made a strong impression. His Jumbo Visma teammate Vingegaard was almost the same and the duo had already crossed the finish line when Pogacar rolled off the starting ramp. At first it looked like Pogacar wasn’t risking much due to the wet conditions. Meanwhile, the Tour winner of the past two years was five seconds behind his Slovenian compatriot Roglic.
But in the second part of the route, Pogacar turned things up a notch. In the end, the cycling prodigy was even faster than Italy’s time trial world champion and top favorite Filippo Ganna. Pogacar distanced the assembled competition for overall victory. Alexander Vlasov, captain of the German team Bora-hansgrohe, lost 24 seconds. “It’s only the first day. I didn’t risk much. I preferred to be a little slower than to fall,” said the Russian.
Europol confirms doping investigations
Meanwhile, the European police authority Europol confirmed doping investigations in the context of the Tour de France for the first time. A statement said that between June 27 and 30, 14 searches took place in six countries, three people were interrogated and various pieces of evidence were seized. Drivers’ and team members’ homes in Belgium, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Poland and Slovenia were searched. The Marseille Public Prosecutor’s Office was in charge. Although Europol did not name the Bahrain-Victorious team, the racing team itself confirmed searches on both Monday and Thursday.
According to the newspaper “Le Parisien”, which referred to the Marseille public prosecutor’s office, telephones, computers, storage media and prescription drugs were confiscated. The apartments of the Slovenian manager Milan Erzen, the Polish team doctor Piotr Kosielski and the French nurse Barnabé Moulin were searched. In addition, the Italian professional Damiano Caruso admitted to “Cyclingnews” that his house in Sicily had been searched.