This is the fourth victory in the Tour for the 33-year-old from Auvergne who finished second in the general classification in 2016 and third the following year but had never worn the yellow jersey before.
A team that rolls
This year he is competing in his last Grande Boucle after having announced a few days ago that he was going to hang up his duties in June 2025. In this very tough stage, run in oppressive heat, Bardet and Van den Broek performed a fantastic number. two.
Present since the start of the day in the breakaway which also included the Frenchman Valentin Madouas, the young Dutchman, 23, first waited for his leader when he pulled away from the peloton to come and swallow up the escapees one by one.
He then pulled huge relays to take him to the long flat part in the finale towards Rimini, on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. And resist the return of the peloton in the traditional game of cat and mouse which often ends badly for the escapees.
“I had instinct”
“I’m finally myself”: with victory in his pocket, Romain Bardet explained that he felt liberated, freed from the pressure of the ranking for his last Grand Boucle. “It’s the first time I’ve smiled before the start of a Tour de France. Not making the general classification takes a huge amount of pressure off me. I’m finally myself, and racing without any ulterior motives was fabulous,” explained the DSM climber.
“I didn’t really know the course but I had the instinct,” explained Romain Bardet, who praised the work of his teammate, “who deserves as much as me, because he pulled me on the flat at the end, he’s really a great talent.” “I saw a lot of riders suffer and I felt really good,” he added. I knew we had Frank (van den Broek, editor’s note) who is very strong in front.”
“I have no words,” reacted the 23-year-old Dutchman, his breakaway partner of the day. “When I saw the gap with the peloton during the last climb of the day, I said to myself that it could do it. It was very hard the last few meters, I saw the peloton chasing us, my legs hurt so much.”
Romain Bardet is the first Frenchman to wear the yellow jersey since Julian Alaphilippe in 2021. “It had always been a goal of my career, and honestly I had mourned it a little,” admitted the climber.
Ranking of the first ten riders of the 1st stage of the Tour de France
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Romain Bardet (FRA/DSM)
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Frank van den Broek (NED/DSM)
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Wout van Aert (BEL/TJV)
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Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAD)
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Maxim Van Gils (BEL/LTD)
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Alex Aranburu (ESP/MOV)
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Mads Pedersen (DEN/LTK)
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Remco Evenepoel (BEL/SOQ)
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Pello Bilbao (ESP/TBV)
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Alberto Bettiol (ITA/EFE)
