Paris (AFP)
France's Christophe Laporte on Wednesday won the prologue to the Tour du Luxembourg, a 2.1 km time trial run in the evening in the city center of the capital of the Grand Duchy.
"I felt good in the bump (placed at the end of the course, Editor's note), I am well mounted and I am really happy to win today," welcomed the rider team Cofidis at the microphone of RTL Luxembourg.
In the standings, Laporte precedes the German Marcel Meisen (Corendon) by 16 hundredths of a second and the Belgian Piet Allegaert (Sport Vlaanderen) of 63 / 100th.
Thursday, the second episode of this five-stage event will lead the Luxembourg peloton to Hautcharage (southwest), a distance of 191.3 km.
In 2018, it was the Italian rider Andrea Pasqualon who won the final victory.
In recent years, Greg Van Avermaet (2017), Jakob Fuglsang (2012) and Fränk Schleck (2009) have won the Tour of Luxembourg.
Ranking of the 1st stage:
1. Christophe Laporte (FRA / Cofidis) the 2.1 km in 3:13 "96
2. Marcel Meisen (GER / Corendon) in 3:14 "12
3. Piet Allegaert (BEL / Sport Vlaanderen) in 3:14 "63
4. Damien Gaudin (FRA / Total Direct Energie) at 3:16 "12
5. Beloved De Gendt (BEL / Wanty-Gobert) at 3:16 "20
? 2019 AFP