In an exhilarating commencement to the Tour de France in Rimini, Romain Bardet attained victory in the first stage, acquiring the prestigious yellow jersey. Mark Cavendish’s quest for a historic 35th stage triumph appeared precarious due to a presumed bout of sickness.
With 50 kilometers remaining in the 206km stretch from Florence, Bardet initiated an attack from the peloton. Aided by his team-mate and first-time Tour participant Frank van den Broek, Bardet managed to narrowly evade the pursuing peloton by several metres along the Adriatic coastline.
While Bardet was reveling in his first stage victory since 2017, Cavendish found himself in effective crisis amid the final ascent to San Marino, accompanied by several of his Astana-Qazaqstan colleagues. Cavendish tailed the main group by over half an hour, still contending with a lengthy decline to the coastline.
Cavendish, who was left behind on the inaugural climb, vomited on account of the severe heat, with fellow riders dousing him with water. He battled to complete the stage, keenly aware of the impending time cut.
The 39-year-old delayed his announced retirement subsequent to his last year’s Tour accident, aiming for another shot at securing the single record for most Tour stage wins, a feat he equaled with Eddy Merckx in 2021.
He likely highlighted Monday’s stage three into Turin as a potential victory opportunity, one of a few he had set his sights on. However, the toll from the day’s events may prove quite draining for Cavendish to bounce back from promptly.
The unprecedented race set off from Italy with a stage that posed challenging inclines, surpassing 3,600 metres, and sweltering heat, which greatly tested the riders. Seven competitors made an early break but didn’t get a substantial lead due to the peloton’s vigilance, all eying the prestigious yellow jersey.
Bardet initiated a daring move from the peloton when he was approximately two minutes behind the lead, a climb remaining on three of the categorised peaks. Swiftly joining dsm-firmenich PostNL team colleague Van den Broek’s wheel, he managed to pull ahead.
On his first-ever Tour de France, Irish cyclist Ben Healy attempted to bridge the gap, but lost ground on the ascend towards San Marino. The Lidl-Trek team, led by Mads Pedersen, and Wout Van Aert’s Visma-Lease A Bike spearheaded the pursuit.
By the time the leading duo had reached the final kilometre, marked by the flamme rouge, the gap was a nail-biting 10 seconds. However, it was sufficient to secure a French victory on the first day of the Tour.
All principal contenders, including Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, and Primoz Roglic, were part of the main group finishing five seconds later. They were accompanied by well-known figures such as Geraint Thomas and Tom Pidcock, while Healy showed a strong performance ending 50th, 18 seconds behind the winner.