Romain Bardet was imposed in the first stage of the Tour de France 2024, disputed this Saturday between Florence and Rimini, Italy, of 206 kilometers, in which he became the first leader of the competition.
According to the criteria of
Egan Bernal (Ineos) He looked active and held on to the main group after a serious battle on seven mountain passes of a lower category, but which caused damage to several cyclists.
Leaders on the attack
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma), Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates), Primoz Roglic (Bora) and Remco Eenepoel (Soudal) also survived the first battle of the competition, with short climbs, but very complicated ramps.
The step was so strong that Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain) He lost his rhythm and stopped being part of the main group, but then he connected with the help of his teammates.
A breakaway broke out in the first few kilometres, with cyclists at one point gaining more than four minutes on the main group, but as the kilometres closed the gap gradually narrowed.
Difficult moments
Visma and UAE Emirates quickened the pace and that ruined the clear objective that the escapees had. In the end, Romain Bardet and Frank van den Broek (DSM) tried to hold on alone at the front, looking to get their first win of the day and wear the yellow jersey.
The sprinters paid the price for the tough pace of the group. Cyclists like Mark Cavendish and the Colombian Fernando Gaviria They lost their step, fell behind and gave up many minutes at the finish line.
When the leaders entered the final 10 kilometers of the fraction, the difference between the two escapees over the group was only 48 seconds, so capture was imminent.
Bardet and Van der Broek pedaled with everything and two kilometers from the end they only had a 16-second advantage, but the group did not let them, they overtook them and the victory was defined in the sprint between the survivors.
However, the two DSM riders held on and went on to secure the victory, which went to Bardet, who had never worn yellow in the Tour, but had finished second in the 2016 edition and third in the 2017 edition.
This Sunday the second part of the competition will be played between Cesenatico and Bologna199 kilometres long, a route very similar to the first day, with six short, low-category mountain prizes, but with steep slopes.
Rankings
Stage
1. Romain Bardet 5 h 07 min 22 s
2. Frank van der Broek mt
3. Wout van Aert at 5s
4. Tadej Pogacar mt
8. Remco Evenepoel mt
12. Egan Bernal mt
16. Jonas Vingegaard mt
18. Alexsandr Vlasov mt
26. Enric Mas mt
28. Carlos Rodríguez mt
34. Primoz Roglic mt
36. Adam Yates mt
47. Santiago Buitrago mt
General
1. Romain Bardet 5 h 07 min 12 s
2. Frank van den Broeak at 4 s
3. Wout van Aert at 11 s
4. Tadej Pogacar at 15 seconds
