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Roglič stamps authority on Itzulia Basque Country in opening time trial

Michael Woods satisfied with losing just over a minute to the Slovenian

Photo by: Sirotti

Primoz Roglič won Monday’s opening time trial of the Itzulia Basque Country to pull on a leader’s jersey in 12 consecutive stage races. Although American Brandon McNulty finished only two seconds adrift, Roglič put nearly 30 seconds between himself and his main GC rivals, Tadej Pogačar and Adam Yates. Michael Woods limited his losses to +1:07 and will look for stage win opportunities as soon as tomorrow.

The Canadian Contingent

All the Canucks at the 60th Itzulia Basque Country were with Israel Start-up Nation: Woods, Alex Cataford, and James Piccoli. The latter two were in Saturday’s Gran Premio Miguel Indurain, where Piccoli’s 26th was his best-ever result for ISUN in a one-day race.

The Course

The opening time trial wasn’t one for the pure chrono specialists. Its 13.8 km began with a short but steep Cat. 3 climb (2.4 km of 7.2 percent), rambled downhill for the majority of the route and then ended with 300 metres of 12.3 percent.

Race favourite Primož Roglič, looking to bounce back from his disastrous end to Paris-Nice, was an early roller. He grabbed the lead with 17:17. His great Slovenian rival, Pogačar, winner of half of the 2021 WorldTour stage races so far, would be the last to start.

Woods posted a time of 18:24. He said afterwards, “It was a good day for me, and I am quite happy with my TT. Sure, I lost a minute to Roglič, but I am still in contention with many of the climbers around here, and with the way the course suits me, there are a few opportunities to close gaps and fight to finish top 10 and even top 5 in the overall.” He’ll like his chances on Stage 2’s short but steep finishing ramp.

In the latter half of the order, McNulty (UAE Emirates) was 5 seconds faster than Roglič at the 4.7 km mark, but crossed the line two seconds slower.

Adam Yates, winner of the Volta a Catalunya, and Pogačar, UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico titlist, could get only as close as +0:28 to the Slovenian from Jumbo-Visma . Wilco Kelderman was a further 8 seconds back and Alejandro Valverde came in 43 seconds in arrears of Rogla.

It was a fine day for the Dutch Bees of Jumbo-Visma, as the team had three of the top four spots. Bora-Hansgrohe put three riders in the top-11 and UAE-Emirates made up three of the top-12.

2021 Itzulia Basque Country
1) Primoz Roglič (Slovenia/Jumbo-Visma) 17:17
2) Brandon McNulty (USA/UAE Emirates +0:02
3) Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark/Jumbo-Visma) +0:18
40) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +1:07
100) Alex Cataford (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +1:43
137) James Piccoli (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +2:09