The fact of the day
History has often been clever with Romain Bardet. It had ejected him from his last Tour de France in his long-standing team, AG2R-La Mondiale, due to a fall and a concussion just a stone’s throw from his home in the Massif Central. It had also forced him to abandon without warning a Giro that he could have won, in 2021. A few weeks ago, the 33-year-old Frenchman announced his planned retirement… for the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné. An exit in his image that made this 2024 Tour his last. And there you have it, a scenario as improbable as it is incredible has come into play.
A breath-hold finish: Bardet’s victorious arrival
For a few years now, the leader of DSM-Firmenich PostNL has been saying that he no longer has any ambitions for the general classification, that he simply wants to have fun, that he wants to run on instinct. For years, he seems to have been held back by his own nature, that invisible thread that has often prevented him from giving up everything. 50 kilometers from the finish of this first stage to Rimini, Romain Bardet put everything on the road. His heart, his legs, his guts, his personal history too.
Himself the second of the 2016 Tour, the third of the 2017 Tour, the man with six Top 10s on the Grande Boucle has long bet everything on this race which had so much to offer him and a lot to take from him too, but he never could really believe in the yellow jersey, this Holy Grail that he himself seemed to refuse. Sunday, at 33, eleven years after his first laps on the Grande Boucle, he will be the man of the day, he will be the yellow jersey.
If we needed to convince ourselves that Romain Bardet’s story is closely linked to the Tour de France, we will note that four of his eleven victories were acquired on the greatest race in the world. The first in 2015 to save his Tour, the second in 2016 to go for his first podium, the third in 2017 pedaling against the best, the fourth seven years later, at the twilight of a career that was undoubtedly lacking a final flourish, here it is.
The Big Loser
With 3,600 meters of elevation gain, this first stage was not promised to sprinters… except perhaps Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). The Dane had only one goal from Florence to Rimini: to be in the group that is playing for victory and therefore the first yellow jersey. He tore himself away, was sometimes dropped but came back… all that to see a duo fighting for victory a few hundred meters ahead of what was left of the peloton. Pedersen did not even have the heart to put everything into the sprint for 3rd place and he finished 7th of the day.
Picture of the day
In 2023, Mark Cavendish came within a few centimeters of beating Jasper Philipsen and winning a 35th stage, an absolute record on the Tour de France. The next day he fell and had to give up. From then on, he decided to postpone retirement for twelve months to try his luck again. Luckily, he had none on this first stage but his trouble (he crossed the line at more than 39 minutes) was the striking image of the day.
Watered by Coquard, Cavendish seems overheated, a difficult day ahead
We liked
The sacrifice of Frank van den Broek. Does he know if one day he will find himself so close to the yellow jersey? At 23, the young Dutchman obviously has his entire career ahead of him but this Saturday on the 1st stage, his work for Romain Bardet was admirable in its generosity. The Frenchman would not be in yellow without his teammate.
Barguil moved for Bardet: “I was counting the seconds in each bend”
Warren Barguil’s tears for his friend and teammate at DSM-Firmenich, Romain Bardet. The two discovered each other when the Breton joined the Dutch team this winter. They prepared together, in training and elsewhere. “Wawa” undoubtedly knew everything that Bardet had sacrificed to get there.
The fight for the breakaway and then the composition of the breakaway betrayed the certainty among the riders that on this stage, the escapees had a real chance of going all the way.
We didn’t like it
The bankruptcy of Groupama-FDJ. Of course Valentin Madouas was in front and he fought for the polka dot jersey, which he will not have, of course the ambitions in the general classification were limited, or even zero at the start, but finally David Gaudu, Lenny Martinez and Romain Grégoire gave up very early for runners who would like to nurture ambitions for three weeks.
Gaudu after Martinez: Groupama climbers left behind more than 70km from the goal
Michele Gazzoli’s withdrawal, of course. The young Italian was discovering the grand tours on the occasion of this first stage of the Tour de France and he has already had to abandon, victim of the heat.
The finale before the finish in Rimini! The Tour de France has accustomed us to sumptuous scenery, especially when it visits foreign countries, but up to three kilometers from the finish, the riders were riding on a sad dual carriageway. It almost condemned Bardet.
The statement: Romain Bardet
This yellow jersey has always been one of my career goals. Honestly, I had mourned it a little bit. I had really mourned it.
At state: 11
Romain Bardet has won few times in his career, eleven times, and he has more often been on the side of the loser than the winner. It’s been more than two years since he raised his arms and even three if we stick to the World Tour.
Just to know
There are now a lot of questions about Romain Bardet: how long can he keep his yellow jersey? Where should this victory be placed in the short list of his successes? Now that he has been released, will he slam another one before Nice?
“Crazy”, “sublime”, “fabulous”: Bardet is “finally himself” and in yellow
Is Jonas Vingegaard really a leader of Visma | Lease a Bike? We are obviously exaggerating but he was not expected by anyone when he had a mechanical problem on this first stage. It is rare enough to be underlined.
How many riders suffered from the heat on Saturday’s first stage? It was obvious for some, Mark Cavendish, Oier Lazkano or Michele Gazzoli, but this opening day will leave its mark on many.
Today’s quiz
This Sunday, for the 2nd stage, the Tour de France will start from Cesenatico, the birthplace of Marco Pantani. Icon of the Tour, he achieved the double with the Giro in 1998. It was on the Grande Boucle that he achieved the last success of his career, on the 15th stage in 2000.
Where did the Pirate raise his arms three days after his victory at the summit of Mont Ventoux?
