The Portuguese rider blasted to victory at the technical circuit and took the primary race chief’s jersey by means of two seconds over Axel Zingle (Cofidis) with Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) 3rd by means of one 2nd additional in the back of.
“I’ve been focusing on this stage for the past month that I’ve been thinking about this TT and I’ve been working really hard toward it,” Oliveira siad. “I knew it was a kind of effort that suited me as it’s similar to a track effort and so knew I could be in with a shout of winning.
“It’s my first victory with the staff since profitable the Portuguese TT champs a couple of years in the past so I could not be extra satisfied. Now we can attempt to shield the yellow.”
Oliveira will carry the leader’s jersey into a tough stage 2 of the four-day event when the peloton faces a lumpy 185.2 kilometer stage from Saint-Mars-sur-Colmont to Lassay-les-Châteaux.
Defending champion Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) did not return to reclaim the title of the race which has alternately been won by sprinters and classics specialists.
In 2021, Arnaud Démare won three of the four stages, the overall and sprint classifications.
The Frenchman is within the hunt once more this yr, hanging 6th within the prologue. Cosnefroy, ultimate yr’s runner-up, is most probably the most important danger to a repeat of 2021.
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