First stage of the Tour de France: Romain Bardet wins in Rimini

Triumphant start to the Tour for Romain Bardet: The 33-year-old Frenchman took victory on the spectacular first stage over 206 kilometers from Florence to Rimini.

The 2016 Tour runner-up beat his teammate Frank van den Broek (Netherlands) in temperatures of over 35 degrees, securing Bardet the first yellow jersey of this year’s Tour de France. Belgian Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) came third.

“It’s crazy”

For Bardet, whose team also includes the German stage hunter John Degenkolb, it was the fourth stage victory in the most important cycling race in the world; the 2016 overall runner-up had never worn the yellow jersey before. The Danish defending champion Vingegaard (16th) and the Slovenian challenger Pogacar (4th) reached the finish with the first group and showed no weakness on the seven mountain classifications.

“It’s crazy. How there are still unexpected moments in cycling. It was overwhelming”said Bardet. “I have goosebumps now, I had goosebumps earlier. I don’t think I’ve ever been so emotional about a victory that I didn’t win myself. It’s absolutely gigantic,” said Degenkolb at the team bus.

Spectacle from the start

From the start of the race, it was clear that the organizers had created a pure spectacle with the extremely demanding opening stage of their 111th tour. While the favorites for the overall victory were able to concentrate on the last difficult third of the race, the first dramas quickly unfolded in the rear of the field.

Sprinter Mark Cavendish was particularly affected. The Briton, at 39 years old something of a Methuselah in the peloton, was clearly in poor health as he entered this first difficult stage, which was a really tough one at 206 kilometers and a good 3,600 meters of elevation.

Cavendish-Team mit health Issues

In the heat – the thermometer already showed over 30 degrees Celsius at the start of the race in Florence – “Cav” had to let the peloton go on the very first mountain. During the climb up the 930-meter-high Valico Tre Vaggi, TV images showed how the Briton suffered, had to vomit and was only with difficulty pulled over the summit by four of his Astana teammates.

It was already clear that on the physically extremely demanding stage, it would be very difficult for Cavendish to reach the finish within the necessary grace period in order to avoid having to leave the Tour after the first day. That other Astana riders besides Cavendish were possibly ill became apparent after about half of the race distance, when Michele Gazzoni got off his bike exhausted.

Leading group around Mohoric pulls away

Meanwhile, a nine-strong group had broken away at the front shortly after the start, including two real classic riders, Matej Mohoric and Ion Izagirre, who had plenty of potential to win on a day like this. The peloton reacted sensitively and it was increasingly the EF-Education team that took care of the follow-up work in the peloton. The breakaway riders’ lead was soon kept under five minutes.

In the field, the favorites Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic were able to hide well and save energy – shielded by their helpers. Of course, the focus was particularly on Vingegaard, who had just recovered from his serious injuries and was able to radio the good news to his team on the way: “Everything’s fine, guys. I feel good, I’m stable!”

Pogacar team takes the initiative

However, 80 kilometers from the finish, the defending champion from Denmark was put under pressure by his toughest competitor: Pogacar’s UAE team picked up the pace on the almost six-kilometer climb up to Barbotto. During the wild chase up the mountain with an average gradient of 7.6 percent, weaker climbers fell one after the other from the main field, which quickly thinned out considerably. Among others, people like Mathieu van der Poel and David Gaudu, a classification rider for Groupama-FDJ, had to let go.

But Vingegaard stuck to it. In front of and behind him, things continued to be spectacular: the leading group, in which the participants had literally worn themselves out in the fight for the respective mountain points, fell apart. At the very back of the group, Cavendish and his desperate companions were already a good 20 minutes behind. But at the front, an experienced man, Romain Bardet, launched a solo attack from the chasing field 50 km from the finish.

50 km from the finish – Bardet starts attack

The 33-year-old Frenchman, who has already announced that this will be his last Tour de France, jumped to the front with the help of his young colleague Fank van den Broek. The two were soon alone and raced towards the finish as a duo. In the last climb 25 km from the finish – up to San Marino – the two went with a lead of around two minutes on the chasing pack with all the favorites.

They held on to this climb and went on the last 20 km with flying colors on a very fast flat section towards the finish line in Rimini. Behind them, the remaining sprinter teams mobilized another chase – but it came too late. With their last strength, the two escapees saved themselves from the onrushing field and crossed the finish line with a narrow lead.

And Cavendish? With a lot of effort and 39:12 minutes behind, the Briton reached the finish line as second to last. This meant he was still well within the time limit – which was 49:11 minutes for the long stage.

Next clash on Sunday

On the second day of the tour, the pros will start in Cesenatico on Sunday. The city is the birthplace of the Tour de France winner Marco Pantani, who died in 2004. The stage ends in Bologna after 199.2 kilometers and a few short but tough climbs. A breakaway rider with all-round qualities could win there. There may also be a first showdown between the favorites.