Tour of France | While waiting for bicycles and a suitcase, Boivin plays it safe…

(Copenhagen) Quebecers played “extreme” caution during the opening time trial of the Tour de France, mostly contested in the pouring rain, Friday afternoon in Copenhagen.

Simon Drouin
The Press

Third to start, Guillaume Boivin had to deal with an additional difficulty: he was not riding his time trial bike. The Israel-Premier Tech cyclist had to borrow a teammate’s mount, not having received his suitcase and his three bikes since his arrival in Denmark on Wednesday.

“I have the impression that I will have them after the Tour because we leave here in two days, raged the athlete from Longueuil after his effort. We are used to Air Canada. This has happened to me twice in a week. Thanks to Air Can…”

Summoned at the last minute after the withdrawal of a teammate potentially infected with COVID-19, Boivin made a Montreal-Toronto-Copenhagen trip from Wednesday to Thursday. He was returning from Edmonton where he took second place at the Canadian Championships in Edmonton on Sunday.

Under the circumstances, he was happy to start his second Tour with “a short day”. He recorded the 129^e time, finishing 1 min 26 s behind surprise winner Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step).

“I pushed hard, but took zero risks in the turns. You really had to be focused, especially with the rain. It’s very slippery in the turns because there is paint. I had nothing to gain, so I was extremely careful. »

Upon stepping down, he told his sporting director Zak Dempster that he had heard absolutely nothing of his instructions in the headset. The thousands of spectators crowded against the fences on the entire 13.2 km circuit were too noisy.

Hugo Houle, who followed his friend’s race from the back of the car, was able to reconnoiter the course one last time. Still, he struggled to find his way through this human tunnel, where every turn felt like the last.

The former Canadian champion in the specialty did very well, placing 40^e 47 seconds behind the winner, thanks to a solid second portion (31^e time).

“It went well, the power was good, but I ran safely in the corners. I wasn’t going to play with the best, so I didn’t see the point of risking anything today. But the sensations are excellent. I am happy. Otherwise, the atmosphere was pretty amazing. »

Houle, who hasn’t devoted any energy to the time trial this year, has been Israel-Premier Tech’s best. Despite drier conditions at the end of the race, his Danish friend Jakob Fuglsang had to settle for 64^e rank (+55 sec).

Without ambition on this event, Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ) showed caution in the turns. However, he found additional motivation at the end of the race when his manager whispered in his ear that he had a four-second lead over his roommate Thibaut Pinot. The Chicoutimi native added three more to the line to finish 105^e (+1 min 14).

“It was great, a time trial in town like that,” enthused Duchesne. There were people everywhere, not an inch free. It was crazy. People all the way. You get caught up in the game. You want to drive flat out, you’re a little euphoric, on adrenaline. It changes the times we sometimes do in potato fields when it’s gray in winter…”

After a thorough warm-up, Michael Woods, Israel-Premier Tech’s third Canadian, surfed to the finish, finishing 134^e a minute and a half from Lampaert. The 35-year-old Ontarian didn’t bother to untie his legs on the stationary bike after his performance.

“I didn’t go all out because of the corners,” he explained. It was really dangerous. I saw that [Stefan] Bissegger had crashed twice, so I took no chances. My goal is only to finish the first week without crashing. That’s what I achieved today. »

Woods was nevertheless able to measure the power of his legs. “I rode well, I’m strong, I think I’ll be ready for the next three weeks. »

The Tour is off to a good start, it remains to bring together a reassembled rider with his bikes and his suitcase. In the meantime, the Israel-Premier Tech publicist went to buy her some clothes…