With the midday sun the 111th edition of the Tour de France began, a fictitious start because after a few kilometers the peloton stopped to make a symbolic ribbon cutting of the race led by the director of the race. big boucleChristian Prudhomme. It was the only friendly match in the first stage, one in which The Grand DepartureFor the first time in history, it was done in Italy, in Tuscany – the land where champions like Gastone Nencini and, above all, Gino Bartali were born -, a stage from Florence to Rimini, 206 kilometers with seven passes and little flat land, a torment as an appetizer that promises to make the competition very long. The first win, in any case, was for Bardet, who rides the Tour after he retired. For once, the cycling was fair, because he and his partner Van den Broek managed to win when the peloton was already chasing them, sprint final.
The attacks followed one after another, and in the end one was strong enough to forge a breakaway, with seven riders in search of the Homeric day – Mohoric (Bahrain), Madouas (FDJ), Izagirre (Cofidis), Champoussin (Arkéa), Van den Broek (DSM), Sandy Dujardin and Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies) – as the stage invited a feat between mountain passes and winding roads. For Izaguirre, however, it was a matter of fighting for the mountain jersey, a difficult task when riding with a broken rib, a reward for Abrahamsen, who joined the breakaway a few kilometres later. And although they enjoyed a lead of more than five minutes, UAE denied the greater, excellent work at the front of the peloton, to the point that with 70 kilometres to go, at the top of the fourth mountain, the multicoloured snake had been reduced by half. A bloodbath of the fatties; satisfaction of Marc Soler, Sivakov and Tim Wellens, luxury gregarious for the cannibal Pogacar, already winner of the Giro this year.
But Bardet and Van den Broek, both from DSM, had put themselves in the middle, almost two minutes with 30 kilometers to go, dreams of greatness. Ineos, EF and Trek took over, pulling to hunt down the escapees, also Visma, which had Van Aert for the theoretical sprint final. The peloton was out of control and tried to link up with the two DSMs, an unequal fight, David against Goliath, 30 seconds with five kilometres to go… They had a few pedal strokes left, just enough to win. Van Aert came in behind and fourth, Pogacar.
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