The Tour de France brings with it immense pressure for riders, but it can bring out incredible performances and with them, intense emotions. No rider put that on display better than Yves Lampaert, who stunned the world by winning the opening time trial in Copenhagen and then burst into tears of joy.
With a steady rain predicted, most of the favourites chose early start times in hopes of avoiding the worst of the rain. Instead, the conditions made little difference as all riders had to cope with wet roads.
Lampaert (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) went down the ramp with 71 riders still to race, after pre-race favourites Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), the reigning time trial world champion, and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma).
One by one, the titans had topped each other until Van Aert was in the hot seat, looking solid for the first maillot jaune, watched as Lampaert powered to the line a full five seconds quicker over the 13.2-kilometre course in the heart of Copenhagen.
The Belgian was overcome by emotion after the last rider finished and he remained on top, saying over and over again that he could not believe he'd taken the first maillot jaune. "I'm just a farm son from Belgium - to do this, I never expected," he said.
