The Tour de France starts in the center of Florence, passing through the Duomo, through the Signoria, through the Ponte Vecchio, a feeling that fills Jonas Vingegaard’s eyes with emotion when asked about the feeling of sitting on bike number 1 again , no more no less, because he is the defender of yellow. The Dane, double champion, remembers the 12 days he was in the hospital in Vittoria, what he had to endure at the beginning after the accident in Itzulia in April. Finally he competes again, although he knows that his preparation has not been ideal, and he does not even know how he will perform at the moment of truth. “It’s good to be here. It’s a really emotional thing for me,” he says, remembering the agony.
And the first stage ends with the euphoria of Romain Bardet, who takes a lead that symbolizes the end of his career and his love story with the Tour.
two platforms and four platforms
In his twelfth participation, the leader of DSM achieved something he had not and thought he would never be able to achieve
The Frenchman of the DSM, at 33 years old, honors the yellow color from his last participation in the race that has given him everything, which pushed him forward in 2016 and after finishing second. Next year Bardet wants to compete only in the Giro, trying a trilogy of stages in all the majors. But fate had a surprise in store for him. His first yellow color in his twelfth Tour awaited him in Rimini. In the last decade, only he and Alaphilippe have worn this prized garment among the French.
“I never thought this would ever happen,” says the climber at the finish line, after winning the first stage with the support of the great work of his teammate Frank Van de Broek, who gave him everything he had to raise his hand, just a few seconds ahead of the peloton. Perhaps he will not be the one to end a drought of almost 40 years and succeed, as many dreamed, Hinault did. But he can also add this early lead as the icing on his four-stage cake, the last one in 2017.
Pogacar wears yellow at the Tour and Vingegaard declares he’s back
Since 2015
In the past decade, only he and Alaphilippe have worn this prized garment among the French
In front of the Diplomat Hotel in Rimini, the two victorious escapees embraced the other two members of DSM, Onelli and Barguil, who enter the main group of 50 units, as the heat and rigours have taken their toll, which leads to stomachs swell at the heels of the escapees. And the four of them are photographed. “There are no words. Frank deserved it as much as I did. “He has done a great job,” admits the leader affable, without whose help and work none of this would have been possible. At 50km he put him in the breakaway and in the last 50m he pulled away, allowing him to pass.
Bardet, who was saying goodbye, was noticed from the start and gave meaning to his goodbye, he was one of the few who prioritized the day and the now. Others who had the stage on their minds were Italian champion Bettiol, who would love to win in his country wearing the tricolor jersey, and Mads Pedersen, who is clear that he has left most of the pure sprinters behind. But the favorites, all of them, in the third week, think long-term, in the future, in plans, in strategies.
Romain Bardet in yellow, an outfit he’s never worn before
Only in Barbato did fireworks occur. Pantani’s friends gathered there, in addition to other former cyclists such as Gianni Bugno or Francesco Casagrande. The most difficult climb of the seven on the opening day, was the point marked by the Ue and Pogacar to experiment.
Duel by parts
Emirates pushed the pace into Barbato but Wingegaard and Visma failed to make any headway, with Van Aert’s sprint leaving Pogacar without a bonus
Marc Soler and Sivakov start shooting down its ramps with a rhythm that declares war. And they suffer a lot. Because they ignore Gaudu, Lenny Martínez, Oier Lazcano, Laporte and even world champion Mathieu van der Poel, who as a child won the Junior World Cup in Florence in 2013. However, Wingegaard stays there well, and if his legs hurt he does not seem to be as hapless as usual, hieratic. And Van Aert also protests. So Pogacar’s colleagues sidelined.
“I think this is not that day, maybe tomorrow (today) or in the fourth stage,” the Slovenian said at the start. And the reality proves him right. The path was difficult but not enough to put the Dane in trouble, who, after more than 80 days of inactivity, overcomes the first equation, as if unknown after his fall in Olaeta in April. And Visma-Lease a Bike allows itself the luxury of Van Aert, another who fell in the spring and recovered for the cause, sprinting fast to finish third and leaving Pogacar in fourth, without the bonus he was looking for.
San Luca witnesses the first great duel between Pogacar and Vingegaard
