Bardet finally crowned, Gaudu already won… the tops and flops of the first stage

Bardet smiles yellow

Finally, Romain Bardet will be able to wear yellow on the Tour route. On the Italian roads more precisely, those that he loves so much, he, the great fan of the Tour of Italy, will be adorned in yellow from tomorrow between Cesenatico and Bologna. An honor gleaned from the force of the pedal this Saturday, on the occasion of a first stage which he flew over in his last quarter, at the end of fifty kilometers where he was flying several floors above the others. Returning to the level of Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), the other tricolor host of the day, the Auvergne worked wonderfully with his teammate Frank Van den Boer (dsm-Firmenich) to offer himself his fourth bouquet on the Tour and his first yellow jersey, above all, at the end of the effort.

Read alsoTour de France: Bardet triumphs in Rimini and takes his first yellow jersey

Van den Broek equipment model

The other hero of the day. While he left the bouquet and the honours to Bardet, ten years his senior, on the finish line, Frank Van den Broek also climbed on the box. Rightfully elected the most combative rider of the day, the 23-year-old Dutchman, who is competing in his first Tour, spent the day at the front, without playing all the shots, as if to anticipate what was going to happen at the end of the afternoon. In the last fifty kilometres, once Bardet was back in his wheel, he worked wonderfully to triumph over his partner and his team, crowned after a fruitful collaboration.It was huge, It’s his first Tour and his carefree attitude has done him good.», greeted the winner of the day, aware that “(his) arrival gave him a second life.”

Read alsoTour de France: “Running without ulterior motives was fabulous”, savors Bardet, winner of the 1st stage

Izagirre and Abrahamsen as bounty hunters

The first two leaders of the 2024 edition will remain Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X). The Spaniard first, already winner of the 12^e stage last year with the northern team, and a hungry climber during the first three ascents of the day, with some nice battles with the Norwegian. The latter, who initially returned to the front of the race using his physical strength alone, will fare better after winning the other important points in the mountains (and even in the intermediate sprint!). And it is he who will set off from Cesenatico with the polka dot jersey on Sunday.

FLOPS

Gaudu (already) struggling, Martinez too

Already feeling down? Even though he had announced from the outset that he was not aiming for the general classification in July, David Gaudu took a big slap in the face at the start this Saturday. Dropped in the first percentages of the Côte de Barbotto, the fourth difficulty of the day, the Breton then completely let go to navigate more than a quarter of an hour behind the peloton in the finale. Fellow sufferer, his young teammate Lenny Martinez, a promising climber but surprise guest on this Tour, also took a big hit at the start. A big 29-minute hit in the general classification. The two men should now be playing for the stage victory, for want of anything better.

Read alsoTour de France 2024: relive Romain Bardet’s victory in Rimini

Cavendish, vogue the galley

Everyone quickly understood that it was going to be a bad day for Mark Cavendish. Stalled in the first third of the first ascent, the “Cav” gave up at the first opportunity. The weight of years (39 years), obviously, but also of illness (heat and vomiting), an explosive cocktail for the “Missile of Man”, escorted by four teammates in his galley, almost half an hour from platoon. The Astana cart will arrive 39 minutes after Bardet, with a small consolation prize: the record of 35 victories on the Tour is still possible.