In a thrilling day of racing, Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL) won the first stage of the Tour de France, just seconds ahead of a fast-charging peloton, with the help of breakaway companion and teammate Frank van den Broek. Third place went to Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) who won the sprint from the peloton that finished right behind a mere five seconds later.
“It’s crazy,” Bardet said afterwards. “I had to back myself, I had to hope this would go well. I didn’t know the course particularly well but Frank (van den Broek) was really strong out in front and I felt I had nothing to lose. Because Frank was so strong we were able to work together and go for it – he really deserves this win as much as me.”
“It’s amazing,” Van den Broek said after the stage. “I don’t have any words for it. We had the plan coming into the first weekend to be there, and I was in the break. We were good from the beginning, and then Romain (Bardet) made the jump to the group, and I could help him. That was good – he paced me on the last climb because I was really on my limit. Then I could do some turns on the on the flat run-in, but it was headwind, very hard, and the camera motorbike was next to us. So that made it, made it extra hard.”
“The first day was super good, said Tadej Pogacar afterwards. “I already tested my legs a bit on the climbs. We rode a good pace there and it felt okay for me, even though the heat had a big impact. At the end I also wanted to try my chance in the sprint. I saw an opening and I almost beat two of the fastest guys in the race, Pedersen and Van Aert. I was not lucky today, but hats off to the winner. They had a good pace and deserved the win.”
“I think it was a good day,” said DS Merijn Zeeman (Visma | Lease a Bike). “Both Jonas (Vingegaard) and Wout (van Aert) did very well. Then it is a beautiful and good day. Wilco (Kelderman) had to board the bus with abrasions, which is less natural. He slipped on gravel on a descent.”
Mathieu Van der Poel talked after the stage about the heat and the need to get back into the racing rhythm. “Normally I should be in that first group, but I know from the past that I am never the best version of myself on that first day of racing. Especially with the heat. I always have some difficulties with it. Of course we try to solve that, but yesterday it suddenly got really hot. I don’t think I will ever ride my best values in the heat.”
RESULTS
Stage 1: Firenze > Rimini, Italy (206km)
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
