Tour de France 2022: ‘Nightmare start!’ – Stefan Bissegger crashes TWICE in rain-soaked time trial

Updated 01/07/2022 at 15:17 GMT

It’s never a smart idea to attack on wet roads, but Stefan Bissegger was so desperate for a shot at the yellow jersey that he threw caution to the wind on the opening stage at the Tour de France. It all went wrong. The EF Education-EasyPost rider hit the deck twice after skidding out in the treacherous conditions in the Danish capital – commendably getting back on his bike to finish the stage.

Bissegger crashes twice on wet time trial in ‘nightmare start’ in Copenhagen

Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost) had a miserable opening day at the Tour de France as he crashed twice in treacherous conditions in Copenhagen.

The first instalment of the Danish Grand Depart will be best remembered for the ice-rink conditions, with the heavens opening to make the roads extra slippery.

Bissegger gambled regardless, flying into corners in a bid to seize the yellow jersey on day one, but his risk-taking backfired spectacularly as he skidded out on painted road markings and hit the deck early on.

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“His chances of a yellow jersey on day one have disappeared,” said Rob Hatch on Eurosport commentary as the Swiss star first hurtled off his bike.

Five-time Tour stage winner Sean Kelly added: “There’s going to be riders who go down here.

“It’s not what we want to see but it’s going to happen because when you push pretty close to the limit on wet roads, on white lines, you’re going to have causalities.”

Less than five minutes later, Bissegger was sat awkwardly on the tarmac again after catching another white line.

“He’s gone down again,” bellowed Hatch.

“This is turning into a nightmare start, an absolute nightmare start. Not once, but twice, he slips out again. I bet he cannot wait for this to be over.”

To his credit, Bissegger got up and finished, somehow only leaking around a minute to those at the top of the standings.

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Stream the Tour de France and Giro Donne live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.

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