While Evenepoel had just exploded the time of his French teammate, Roglic won in the city center of Hondarribia even paying for the luxury of swallowing Pello Bilbao, 2nd overall last year and therefore left just ahead him.
A race start that strongly resembles those of the Slovenian's last coronations on Basque lands: last year, Roglic had already won the initial time trial in Bilbao, three years after the best lap time of Lodosa.
Roglic is already eyeing a third coronation on the Tour of the Basque Country after 2018 and 2021, which would bring him closer to the record of Alberto Contador and José Antonio Gonzalez Linares, winners of four editions each.
"It was a super technical time trial, with a lot of corners, hairpins... But I had good legs. It was a ten minute effort, so there couldn't be any huge gaps at the end. But it's always good to have a small lead, even if it doesn't mean anything," Roglic said at the finish line, with his son in his arms.
"We knew it was going to be a kind of lottery, because it was a very technical and very short course. But I have nothing to regret," reacted Evenepoel on arrival.
"I pedaled as fast as possible, but there was just one guy who was pedaling faster. It's a bit the same as on the Tirreno-Adriatico. It's sad to be second again on the first day of a World Tour race... But tomorrow is a new day. Winning this race will be difficult with guys like Roglic, but we will do everything to be on the podium," said the 22-year-old Belgian prodigy.
Also note, on the French side, the beautiful 7th place of Bruno Armirail (Groupama - Française des Jeux), twenty seconds behind the winner.
The second stage on Tuesday will take the peloton between Leitza and Viana, in Navarre, a long stage of 207.6 kilometers punctuated by two 3rd category passes and a 2nd category pass for the climb to Lizarraga (9.6 km at 5 .4%).
© 2022 AFP