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After a late crash on Nice’s iconic Promenade des Anglais, Alexander Kristoff of the United Arab Emirates won a first stage of the Tour de France on Saturday.
The Norwegian will now wear the overall race leader yellow jersey, having battled an early crash that seemed to rule it out.
The 2020 Tour departed two months later than planned due to the coronavirus and under strict health protocols.
However, the first rain in the Mediterranean city since June turned the inaugural excursion of the 21-day race into a lottery and a motorcycle race official described the road surface as an ice track.
Key victims of the multiple crashes included France’s Thibaut Pinot and Julian Alaphilippe, with Colombia’s Astana captain Miguel Ángel López suffering a staggering downhill slide that saw him collide head-on into a traffic sign.
The British team Ineos was concerned about their Russian climber Pavel Sivakov, who fell twice, riding on both elbows bloody.
The best drivers, led by the Jumbo team, were surprised by the crash and called for a truce that slowed the pace.
“That was great for me, it got me back in,” said Kristoff, who had been adrift about six minutes after his own crash.
“This is a special Tour, even I am surprised,” said the 33-year-old who admitted that his goals for his season were the next one-day races, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.
Along the flat home stretch, the speed had increased to around 40 mph when the fall left some 30 riders alone ahead with dozens of scared contestants.
The heavy Covid-19 atmosphere weighing on the coastal city eased slightly at first when French government minister Michel Blanquer sent a rare message of hope that the Tour would make it to Paris in three weeks.
“The cancellation of the Tour cannot be ruled out, but it has been so well prepared that the chances of it happening are very slim,” he said.
Prince Albert of Monaco played local boules in the VIP village on the starting line, but the red-roofed Italian-style city was eerily empty that day as fans had been asked to stay away, and even the Nice’s pebble beach was semi-deserted. .
The local Nice-Matin newspaper raised its eyebrows on Saturday by publishing a photo of the Dutch Jumbo team leader Primoz Roglic, one of the favorites, rather than a Frenchman.
But the key French in the race had days to forget.
After 14 days at the helm last year, Alaphilippe was forced to fight just two minutes behind after a mechanical problem.
Meanwhile, the unfortunate fan-favorite Pinot was involved in the last of many falls as the platoon made their way down the rain-soaked boardwalk.
“That’s road racing,” said Pinot manager Marc Madiot. “Nothing that a good night’s sleep doesn’t fix,” he added after his star returned to the team bus refusing to speak.
Sunday’s 186km stage also starts and ends in Nice, but will be raced under blue skies and over the Alps in the interior of Nice.
“The Tour has never gone so high, so early,” said Tour boss Christian Prudhomme of the two climbs of Colmiane and Turini, both over 1,500 meters high, just a few kilometers from the beachfront walkways. .
The burly yellow Kristoff jersey is too big to hope to return home with the favorites on Sunday.
“I think I’ll lose my shirt,” he said. “But I am near the end of my career and I have four children, so I will try to enjoy the day.”
Results and general classification after stage 1 of the Tour de France on Saturday, a 156 km race around Nice:
General ranking
1. Alexander Kristoff (NOR / UAE Emirates) 3 hours 46 minutes 13 seconds, 2. Mads Pedersen (DEN / TRE) in 4 seconds, 3. Cees Bol (NED / SUN) 6, 4. Sam Bennett (IRL / DEC) 10, 5. Peter Sagan (SVK / BOR) 10, 6. Elia Viviani (ITA / COF) 10, 7. Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA / DDT) 10, 8. Bryan Coquard (FRA / VCC) 10, 9. Anthony Turgis (FRA / TDE)) 10, 10. Jasper Stuyven (BEL / TRE) 10, 11. Oliver Naesen (BEL / ALM) 10, 12. Matteo Trentin (ITA / CCC) 10, 13. Clement Venturini (FRA / ALM) 10, 14. Luka Mezgec (SLO / MIT) 10, 15. Hugo Houle (CAN / AST) 10, 16. Sergio Higuita (COL / EF1) 10, 17. Tadej Pogacar (SLO / EAU) 10.18. Connor Swift (GBR / ARK) 10, 19. Caleb Ewan (AUS / LOT) 10, 20. Christophe Laporte (FRA / COF) 10
Green sprint points jersey
1. Alexander Kristoff (NOR / UAE) 59 points, 2. Mads Pedersen (DEN / TRE) 30, 3. Peter Sagan (SVK / BOR) 29, 4. Sam Bennett (IRL / DEC) 28, 5. Michael Schar ( SUI / CCC) 20, 6. Cees Bol (NED / SUN) 20, 7. Bryan Coquard (FRA / VCC) 18, 8. Cyril Gautier (FRA / VCC) 17, 9. Matteo Trentin (ITA / CCC) 16, Fabien Grellier (FRA / TDE) 15
King of the mountains polka dot sweater
Fabien Grellier (FRA / TDE) 2 points, 2. Michael Schar (SUI / CCC) 2, 3. Cyril Gautier (FRA / VCC) 2
U-25 white t-shirt
1. Mads Pedersen (DEN / TRE) 3 hours 46 minutes 17 seconds, 2. Cees Bol (NED / SUN) in 2 seconds, 3. Sergio Higuita (COL / EF1) 6, 4. Tadej Pogacar (SLO / UAE) 6 , 5. Connor Swift (GBR / ARK) 6, 6. Casper Pedersen (DEN / SUN) 6, 7. Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED / SUN) 6, 8. Daniel Martinez (COL / EF1) 6, 9. Clement Russo ( FRA / ARK) 6, 10. Egan Bernal (COL / INE) 6
