The course, flat, favors power but includes several technical passages, in the opinion of race director Thierry Gouvenou.
"The idea was to already have gaps over 13 kilometers rather than a prologue of 7-8 kilometers", he explains to AFP, noting the importance of the weather factor if the forecasts announcing the rain in late afternoon are verified.
"There are white stripes since we are in town and a cobbled square in front of the Royal Palace with a big curve to tackle. In the wet, the risk of slipping exists. It is a question of dosage for those who want to play the stage or the general of the Tour, he believes.
About twenty very sharp bends, often at right angles, are spread over the route which visits several of the major tourist sites of the capital, mainly the Little Mermaid (Km 9.2) and the Royal Palace (Km 10.3), before the arrival judged in front of the famous Tivoli amusement park.
Ganna, the reigning double time trial world champion, has won five of the six times on his program this year.
But van Aert, his runner-up in the last two Worlds, lost only 2 seconds during the recent Dauphiné, over a much greater distance (31.9 km).
Tour de France 2022: 1st stage in Copenhagen Vincent LEFAI AFP
The Swiss Stefan Bissegger, who beat Ganna at the UAE Tour in February, and the Swiss Stefan Küng are two other credible candidates with, why not, the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel.
The other major focus will be on the gaps between the riders in the general classification with Pogacar as a benchmark.
In 2022, the Slovenian only ran two times without ever being very far from the first places (4th in the UAE Tour, 3rd in Tirreno-Adriatico).
© 2022 AFP