The first stage of the 2024 Tour de France is a tough one: the favorites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard have more than 200 kilometers and 3,600 meters of elevation ahead of them. Here you can find out where you can watch the start of the Tour de France.
The Tour de France 2024, the most famous and important road cycling race in the world, begins on June 29 (12 noon) in Florence, Italy. Until July 21 (daily in the LIVETICKER), the cycling world is eagerly awaiting the 111th edition of the Tour de France.
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The very first stage of the tour will be a tough test for the top favorites Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic. The cycling stars will face the 206-kilometer route from Florence in Tuscany to Rimini on the Adriatic. But it’s not just the distance that’s demanding: a total of seven mountain classifications add up to 3,600 meters of elevation.
Here you can watch the 1st stage of the Tour de France 2024 LIVE:
- TV: ARD, Eurosport
- Stream: sportschau.de, Discovery+
- Live ticker: SPORT1.de and in the SPORT1 app
Moment of shock for Vingegaard
At exactly 12:00 noon, 176 riders set off from the famous city of Tuscany on a journey that will take them over 3498 km in 21 stages to Nice. The start took place shortly afterwards. The start was very hot in northern Italy, with temperatures around 35 degrees.
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Vingegaard had a moment of shock early on. Due to a defect, the Dane had to change his bike and make his way back to the field alone.
Even though Vingegaard has won the Tour in the past two years, the big favorite for 2024 has a different name: Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian recently dominated the Giro d’Italia when he won by almost 10 minutes.
Tour de France 2024: Pogacar aims for historic double
Now the 25-year-old wants to win the Tour de France and become the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the Giro and Tour double. “Physically, I am ready to win the Tour again. In the end, it’s about mental strength, and you also need luck,” Pogacar explained beforehand.
His fiercest rival, defending champion Vingegaard, gave the green light for the Tour de France just a few days ago. At the beginning of April, the Dane had a serious fall during the Tour of the Basque Country, breaking several ribs and bruising his lungs.
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What shape is defending champion Vingegaard in?
The big question at the start of the Tour is what form Vingegaard is in. Only a few experts expect the Visma rider to be back to full strength yet.
Tour de France 2024: Stages and route profiles
“My goal is to achieve the best possible result. It was a very bad crash. Being here at the start is a success in itself,” said Vingegaard before the first stage in Florence: “Everything else is a bonus.”
Pogacar’s Slovenian compatriot Primoz Roglic from the top German team Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe also thinks he has a chance. “We’ll see on the first stages who is in shape and has good legs. I won’t be the only one to watch out for,” said Pogacar: “We have a lot of competition this year.”
