Jonas Vingegaard shines on Montjuïc

Source Summary

After trying it in different races, the Tour de France has premiered the team time trial in Barcelona with the particularity that the stage is won by the team of the cyclist who arrives at the finish line with the best time. The individual record achieved marks the general classification. It is no longer necessary for five cyclists to arrive together, and the novelties have led to new strategies that have been applied to a 19.6 km route that passed through 3 districts of Barcelona. The eight turns in Sant Martí have been the most technical part of the time trial. In L'Eixample, they flew, and in Sants-Montjuïc, the power of the cyclists' legs on the climbs of Passeig de Santa Madrona and Passeig Olímpic have been decisive in making a difference. On the descent after the Olympic stadium Lluís Companys, at the left turn of INEFC, the cyclists reached over 80 km/h before arriving at Carrer del Foc. The strategy of team time trials has changed, and the cyclists have helped each other with relays in the city, and the front riders, the big shots, have sought their best time in the general classification in the final 800 meters that have ramped upwards to the finish line next to the stadium. Pros and cons of this new format in which at the start, the team's gears are seen in perfect harmony of what a team time trial is, in which each one has their function, and an end in which the cyclists arrive in dribs and drabs after their individual brilliance, which has provided a very exciting spectacle.