Jumbo Visma transformed into a Jumbo jet in Brussels team time trial, flying at over 57 km per hour among a backdrop of crowds on the 27,6 km route from the Royal Palace to the Atomium in the Belgian capital. The Tour came to Belgium to celebrate Eddy Merckx 50 years after the first success of the unforgettable Cannibal.
But in the first two stages of the Grande Boucle it was also the Dutch who celebrated, especially those of the Jumbo Visma, on Saturday with the victory and the yellow jersey of Mike Teunisse, yesterday with a success as surprising as clear in the team time trial that strengthens the primacy of Teunisse and allows a Steven Krujiswjick, the Dutchman most accredited to take care of the standings after Tom Dumoulin's forfeit, to accumulate an unexpected advantage over all the other candidates for final success.
Starting from the 20” round earned on Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal, second with Ineos who, having started first, were about to enjoy the first victory in the Tour in a team time trial for the ex Sky when the Dutch train arrived at the finish line, pulled by the yellow jersey and Krujiswjick.
Third at 21” from the unleashed tulips – to which Dylan Groenewegen stoically gave his contribution for a while before giving up due to the painful after-effects of Saturday's crash – came the Deceuninck Quick Step by Julian Alaphilippe, Eric Mas and Elia Viviani. Fourth and fifth, both 26” behind, finished Kelderman's Sunweb and Ilnur Zakarin's Katusha. Education First arrived sixth at 28", Greg Van Avermaet's Ccc was seventh at 31", Thibaut Pinot's Fdj was eighth at 32".
Vincenzo Nibali with Bahrain-Merida he finished ninth at 36" from Jumbo Visma: a result that did not displease the Squalo given that he contained the delay from Thomas and Bernal, the most dangerous pair of rivals on paper, to 16", while he gained precious seconds, 29" to be exact, on Landa, Quintana and Valverde, the big three of Movistar, a team that has always suffered in races against the clock. Daniel Martin and Fabio Aru's UAE Emirates also finished ahead of Movistar, twelfth at 1'03”. Behind Nibali's Bahrain-Merida, Astana finished tenth 41” behind the leaders and may have paid for the great energy spent on Saturday to help the captain, the Dane Jacob Fulgsang, get back into the group after the disastrous crash.
