Itzulia Basque Country: Primoz Roglic wins opening time trial

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We are only a little over seven kilometres into the 2022 Itzulia Basque Country, and history is already beginning to repeat itself as defending champion Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) powered to victory in the opening time trial.

Repeating his win from the opening time trial of the 2021 Itzulia, Primož Roglič outpaced Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) by five seconds, with teammate Rémi Cavagna in third at 16 seconds back.

"I'm super happy that I won. It was super technical, a lot of corners. I had the legs and yeah, it's crazy," Roglič said about his win.

"It's just the start. It was 10 minutes of effort. You can't have super big differences but I always say it's always better to have some advantage than disadvantage. But it doesn't mean anything yet."

Roglič will lead the race on Tuesday's stage 2, a rolling 207.4-kilometre stage between Leitza and Viana that could end in the Itzulia's only bunch sprint.

It was a bewilderingly-technical and undulating 7.5-kilometre time trial course, running through the streets of the coastal town of Hondarribia and including several short, punchy climbs, as well as two tricky cobbled sections late on.

Runner-up Evenepoel managed to demolish the previous best time set by teammate Cavagna by a sizeable eight seconds. However, Olympic time trial champion Roglič proved to be even more at home on a course featuring several short, steep climbs and a perilous undulating cobbled section late on.

Roglič was not willing to draw too many conclusions from such a short test, saying "it was only ten minutes effort, no big differences and this is only just beginning.

"But as I always say, better to be ahead than behind. It's a great start."

He also refused to be drawn on whether he would defend the lead from start to finish, merely laughing at the suggestion and answering "we'll see. But I already have it and I'm going to enjoy that."

Other top names that impressed included Ineos Grenadiers duo Adam Yates and Geraint Thomas, separated at the finish by less than a second in favour of the Welshman, with Bora-Hansgrohe's Aleksandr Vlasov also finishing on the same time.

In turn, French time trialling expert Cavagna then had the edge on the trio, inching ahead for provisional best time on the stage and in what would end up being third place by two seconds.

Yet even if former World Championships silver medallist Evenepoel soared to the top of the provisional ranking a few minutes later, he, too, was powerless in the face of Roglič.

His yellow and black Jumbo-Visma kit gleaming in the bright spring sunshine as he sped along the course's only flat section, the opening kilometre along Hondarribia's seafront promenade, by the summit of the one classified climb of San Telmo, Roglič was only half a second behind the Belgian star.

And on the series of twisting switchback drops and cobbled ascents through the town centre that followed, the Slovenian inexorably overhauled Evenepoel's time, ultimately claiming the fourth Itzulia time trial of his career by five seconds.

After his defeat, Evenepoel immediately played down expectations of duelling with Roglič for the overall win.

"On Sunday, I said this time trial would be a lottery because it's very technical and short," Evenepoel told reporters, "but I can't blame myself because I went as fast as possible and only one guy was faster than me.

"It's a bit sad to be second again in a WorldTour race after Tirreno, so let's go for tomorrow, it's a new race."

However, he warned that winning was going to be difficult, especially up against Roglič. "Together with [Tadej] Pogačar, he is the best GC guy in the world. So, I will just try to be on the podium and take it day-by-day."

Apart from Evenepoel, at 18 seconds Yates and Thomas are both ideally placed to give Roglič a run for his money along with Vlasov.

The Itzulia Basque Country's lead is now Roglič's to defend, though. He can also count on strong support from Jumbo-Visma's impressive line up. That includes last year's overall runner up, Jonas Vingegaard, who finished a solid ninth place in the prologue.

If the 2018 and 2021 winner was already the key reference point of Itzulia Basque Country, after stage 1, that's even more the case.