Engoulvent wins opening time trial

Jimmy Engoulvent won the prologue of the Tour de Luxembourg. The Sojasun rider clocked a time of 3:42 on the 2.55 kilometre-long stretch through the nation’s capital. Danny van Poppel of Vacansoleil-DCM came in second at one second and Engoulvents teammate Jonathan Hivert finished third.

The 33-year-old Engoulvent is a specialist for the Luxembourg prologue. He won it in 2007, 2010 and 2012 and came second in 2011. The Sojasun rider took advantage of his knowledge of the course, especially on the cobbled climb; a 300 meter stretch with a 13 per cent average. He started the climb six seconds down on sprinters like Jean-Pierre Drucker (Accent Jobs-Wanty) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Radioshack-Leopard) but finished three seconds ahead of Drucker and 17 seconds ahead of Nizzolo.

The course is not for the time trial specialists but favours the explosive and powerful sprinters like Danny van Poppel (second), Sojasun’s Jonathan Hivert (third), (Drucker (fourth) and Blanco Pro Cycling’s Paul Martens (sixth) showed on Wednesday evening.

The Dutchman, only 19 years old, finished only one second behind Engoulvent. The youngest pro in the WorldTour showed his huge potential again. After podium spots in Tour of Belgium, Tour de Picardie and the Handzame Classic, it was Van Poppel’s fourth top three result in his debut year.

The first stage runs from Luxembourg to Hautcharage. With 182,3 kilometres it is the longest stage of the five-day event. It features six rated climbs but traditionally finishes with a bunch kick. The line-up presents sprinters like Milan-San Remo winner Gerald Ciolek (MTN Qhubeka), Katusha’s Rudiger Selig and Marco Haller, Euskaltel’s Juanjo Lobato, Danny van Poppel, Blanco’s Moreno Hofland, Jean-Pierre Drucker, Ag2r-La Mondiale’s Manuel Belletti and Gediminas Bagdonas and IAM Cycling’s Matteo Pelucchi.

Results