For Remco Evenepoel, the dream of wearing the yellow jersey is merely postponed and the Belgian champion admitted he was satisfied with the result, even though he spoke of a pace imposed by his teammates. "I was beaten by the best, I can't complain". These were the words Evenepoel pronounced yesterday at the end of the time trial, when he had already returned to the team buses and had time to process the result achieved.

The first yellow jersey of the Tour de France did not arrive, but the Belgian archives the opening stage with the awareness that he is still fully in contention for the major objectives of the Grande Boucle. In the inaugural team time trial, the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe leader finished in fifth place, losing 19 seconds to Visma-Lease a Bike of Jonas Vingegaard, the stage winners.

In the general classification, the world time trial champion finds himself behind Vingegaard himself, Filippo Ganna, Tadej Pogacar and Juan Ayuso. It wasn't the start he hoped for: on the eve he had declared he wanted to win the time trial and wear the first yellow jersey of the Tour. The verdict of the road, however, rewarded others.

Evenepoel accepted the result with serenity, without seeking justifications. "I was beaten by the best riders in the grand tours of our generation and I can't complain."

A statement that tells the whole story of the Belgian's awareness, well determined to look at the glass as half full. "The most important thing is to look at the general classification and there aren't many riders ahead of me. By coincidence, there are the two best grand tour riders of our generation."

An obvious reference to Vingegaard and Pogacar, the two great rivals in the race for the yellow jersey. The fifth place finish doesn't leave complete satisfaction, but Evenepoel recognized the good work of his team.
 "It was a result we expected. We didn't lose much time on the flat section compared to INEOS, which certainly had a formation very suited to that type of course."

A few minor setbacks, however, prevented Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe from expressing their full potential.
"Two small details went less well. Some riders had to drop back a bit earlier than planned, but everyone gives what they can and works with their own characteristics. For the rest, the team put in a good performance."

As expected beforehand, Evenepoel took on much of the work in the decisive phase of the time trial.
"I knew I would have to carry the greatest weight of the team. I tried to go as hard as possible from the first kilometer."

The Olympic and world time trial champion then explained his approach to the race. "I pedaled following the pace that had been set for me and that way I knew I would stay close to the other favorites in the general classification." Mission accomplished: the time lost is contained and leaves all prospects open for the coming weeks.

The team manager of Red Bull – Bora Hansgrohe, Klaas Lodewyck, also analyzed the team's performance with satisfaction. "You always hope to win, but we must be satisfied with what we did."

The strategy was clear from days before and every passage was established in minute detail, to try to obtain the best possible result and certainly aiming for victory.
"We didn't want to start too hard. We saw that many teams paid for the effort in the final part and that's why we chose a time trial at a constant pace."

According to Lodewyck the tactic was correct, but there were those who went faster. "We lost something especially in the first part of the course, where there were many curves and it wasn't easy to maintain high speed. But we fully support the choice we made."

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe had built the test around their two classification riders, Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz. "The plan was for Remco to do much of the work, while on the final climb both he and Lipowitz could choose their own pace."

A management that will allow the two leaders to face the next stages in practically the same conditions.

The dream of wearing the symbol of leadership has not faded and when asked if the yellow jersey is still a realistic objective, Lodewyck answered without hesitation: "We all dream of the yellow jersey. Otherwise we wouldn't be here".

In Barcelona the Belgian hoped to wear the symbol of leadership right away. He didn't manage it, but he limited the damage against his main rivals and confirmed he is ready to play a leading role. The yellow jersey will have to wait, but his race has just begun.