Vingegaard was surprised by his good time trial. He has just recovered from an injury to his achilles tendon. “I am very happy with my performance. I really didn’t expect to achieve this already after my injury. This year, I have done several good time trials, so I know I am able to do it. I am very happy that my shape is going crescendo and I expect that I can start the Tour de France in good shape.”

Leader Steven Kruijswijk had mixed feelings. “I couldn’t find the right rhythm and feeling in the second part of the time trial. As a result, I lost a little more time than I had expected. I tried to push as hard as I could, but on a course as tough as today, it’s more about having the right feeling. There are still some tough stages to come where the GC will certainly be turned upside down. We will do our best and try to make the most out of it.”

Co-leader Sepp Kuss lost more than a minute. “I didn’t feel great today. It went well in the beginning, but I couldn’t really find my rhythm on the climbs. I gave everything, but I couldn’t go faster than this. I’m looking forward to the upcoming stages, because it’s going to be really tough in the next days.”