LIVE. Tour de France: Bardet in the lead, Gaudu and Van der Poel dropped, follow the first stage

The Irishman is trying everything to catch up with the two leaders and is only a minute behind.

The Frenchman breaks down at the end of the Montemmagio hill and will not have the polka dot jersey on his shoulders this evening.

The Frenchman, who is competing in his last Tour, leads the leading group and still has a 1’15” lead over Healy and a 1’34” lead over the peloton.

There are only three left in the lead… including two French!

The Irishman launched a huge attack on the Montemmagio climb to separate himself from the peloton, which was 1’18” behind the leaders.

Romain Bardet, accompanied by Van den Broek, joined the two leading men in the Montemaggio climb, category 3…. Another attack coming?

The Frenchman scores five points at the top of the San Leo hill!

Matej Mohoric is distanced on the San Leo climb and leaves only two brave souls at the front of the race: Valentin Madouas and Jonas Abrahamsen. They have a 1’19” lead over the peloton and 39″ over Bardet, who really came out very well in the counterattack.

The Frenchman drops off the peloton on the San Leo hill and attacks 50km from the finish!

Just after Barbotto, the riders attack the San Leo hill, classified as category 2, with sections of over 14%. An opportunity for us to have a few attacks?

The Ecuadorian had to change bikes and lost a few seconds on the peloton.

The peloton is now 1’55” behind the five leaders. Izagirre has been dropped.

The pace set by UAE is really too complicated for the Dutch rider and the Dane, who were dropped on the Barbotto climb.

Led by the UAE team, the peloton accelerated on the Barbotto hill and lost many riders.

Nine points for Jonas Abrahamsen, who takes the lead on the Barbotto climb ahead of Valentin Madouas. The leading men are only 2’24” behind the peloton and 16’23” ahead of Cavendish.

Sprinters Christophe Laporte, Biniam Girmay, Sam Bennett, Arnaud Démare and Lenny Martinez and also David Gaudu were dropped by the peloton on the Barbotto climb.

More than a minute lost in just ten kilometers for the leaders. The peloton is now only 3’22” behind.

This difficulty, classified in 2nd category, should mark the start of hostilities in the peloton and cause certain members of the breakaway to break down.

Since the start of the stage, the riders have been traveling at an average of 41 km/h.

The leaders now have a 5-minute lead over a peloton that doesn’t seem to be panicking… Will they manage to hold on?

Marc Cavendish’s teammate, Michele Gazzoli, dropped out. This is the first package of this Tour.

Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Frank van den Broek (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) and Ryan Gibbons (Lidl-Trek) still have 3 ’50” ahead of the peloton. Cavendish’s group is still very late (13’40”).

The Belgian has moved back into the top positions in the peloton, which is now 4′ behind the leading group.

This climb from Carnaio will have hurt the leading group. The Frenchman cannot keep up the pace and is let go by the breakaway.

One of the leaders cannot accelerate on the Carnaio climb (category 3). There are only seven left at the head of the race with a 3’17” lead over the peloton.

The group has a lead of about 3’40 over the peloton. The Frenchmen Madouas, Champoussin and Dujardin are accompanied by Van den Broek, Abrahamsen, Mohoric, Gibbons and Ion Izagirre.

The sprinter was unhooked in the first listed climb of this Tour. Four riders from Astana let themselves go to try to limit the damage. This group is almost 4 minutes behind the peloton.

The eight riders now have a lead of more than 4 minutes over the peloton. Matteo Vercher has been dropped by his teammates.

The title holder had to stop to change his mount. Three teammates waited for him to help him reintegrate into the peloton.

At 172 km from the finish, the fugitives were more than a minute ahead of the peloton.

Quality at the front of the race, with the French Madouas, Champoussin, Dujardin and Vercher, flanked by Van den Broek, Mohoric and Ion Izagirre.

Christian Prudhomme waved the first yellow flag of this 2024 edition.

The actual start has not yet been given, but the Czech Jan Hirt has already fallen. The Soudal Quick-Step rider broke three teeth, according to Patrick Lefévère.

• The first stage of the Grande Boucle takes place this Saturday, June 29. The peloton will set off from Florence, Italy, and will cover 206 km to Rimini.
• Today’s stage will not be easy since seven climbs are on the program. In total, runners will face 3,600 m of elevation gain.
• The fictitious start of this first stage is scheduled for 12 noon. The real start will not take place until a little later, at 12:40 p.m.
• Tadej Pogacar’s first steps in the competition will be highly anticipated. The Slovenian is the big favourite for this Tour de France, even though he will be up against Jonas Vingegaard, the winner of the last two editions.