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There was finally a massive sprint on the first stage of this year’s Tour de France after a spectacular ride through the hills around the city of Nice on the French Riviera.
In the sprint, Alexander Kristoff was the strongest and was able to cheer on the stage victory and the yellow jersey. In this way, he becomes the second Norwegian of all time to ride in a yellow jersey on the Tour.
Three kilometers before the finish, much of the field disappeared in a massive ugly rollover, where, among other things, French local hopeful Thibaut Pinot stepped up and slashed grimaces afterward.
In the chaos after the crash, several sprints disappeared and Kristoff found Peter Sagan’s wheel. With 100 yards to go, Kristoff stood out and asked by far the best. In the end, he beat Mads Pedersen and Cees Bol in goal.
– I have always dreamed of the yellow jersey and now it will be a dream come true. Can’t dream of a better start. We have a team for the mountains, but I felt strong in the last kilometers and I realized until the finish line that I was going to win. It was a wonderful feeling, says Kristoff in an interview shown on TV 2.
YELLOW SWEATER: Alexander Kristoff was the strongest in the sprint and won the first stage of the Tour de France.
Photo: Christophe Petit Tesson / Reuters
A moved and happy Kristoff sent a thank you to the family after the victory.
– This means a lot to my career. I am 33 years old and have four children, and I know they sit at home and look and are proud of me. I want to greet you, he said and greeted.
Three riders broke down at the beginning of the stage, but they ran again at about fifty kilometers. The trio never had more than two and a half minutes ahead of the field behind.
It was only the last two or three kilometers that the course really sped up after what had been a stage characterized by slippery roads and many falls. The sprint teams seized the last few miles to put their winning candidates in the best possible position.
AG2R driver Benoit Cosnefroy tried a desperate solo attempt but was quickly brought in by the general group behind.
It was slippery and dangerous on the descent of the first stage.
Photo: Daniel Cole / AP
Many falls
The massive roll-over was not the only major encounter with the asphalt in the first stage.
The stage was characterized by very slippery roads due to the rain over Nice. Several horsemen fell on the road. Pavel Sivakov of Ineos was one of them, an important auxiliary driver for the current winner Egan Bernal. Also combined candidate Miguel Ángel López rode straight to a signal when the bike failed to grip a curve, but the Colombian got up without suffering major injuries.
Jumbo-Visma took action with route captain Tony Martin and calmed the field on the last long downhill run, to avoid uglier drops. Thus, the stage was neutralized for a time, which helped several riders to return after being several minutes behind.
Still, it didn’t end without a crash on the last descent. On the last difficult hill, George Bennett went downhill. He is Jumbo-Visma’s major mountain helper for Primoz Roglic and a combined potential candidate himself.
