“I didn’t have good legs today, and that means I lost time to my rivals”, Vingegaard refers to Remco Evenepoel’s stage win and Tadej Pogacar’s second place. The Dane, along with Jorgenson, now trails the duo by more than a minute in the general classification. “That surprised me a bit, but that’s part of cycling.”

Earlier in the afternoon, Affini had set the fastest time of the day up to that point. The European time trial champion spent several hours in the hot seat before ultimately finishing third in the time trial in and around Caen. “That’s a great result for him, but of course we had hoped for a stronger time trial from both Matteo and Jonas”, Head of Racing Grischa Niermann says. “After just a few kilometers, we already realized Jonas was losing time, and that didn’t change.”

He continues: “In a time trial like this, you need to push from start to finish and execute the technical sections well. That’s wasn’t the problem today. I think Jonas simply didn’t have the power. We’re now behind in the general classification and will have to chase to win the Tour de France. Tomorrow will be another battle.”

Vingegaard is also combative after his time trial. “The result wasn’t good today, but luckily the Tour is still long. I believe in myself and in the plan we’ve created together. We can still win the Tour de France. In previous editions, we’ve seen that coming back from a deficit like this is not impossible.” Tomorrow, the Tour de France continues with a hilly sixth stage.