Source : ABC NEWS
The Tour de France cannot be won on the first day.
But Danish two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard landed the first blow of the three-week race by taking the first yellow jersey of the Tour.
Vingegaard crossed the line first as Visma lease-a-bike claimed victory in the 19-kilometre team time trial on a blistering hot, 30 degree-Celsius day on the streets of Barcelona.
He finished 12 seconds ahead of his arch rival and two-time defending champion Tadej Pogačar, whose UAE Emirates XRG team finished in third place, although he was fastest up the final climb and will wear the polka dots on stage two.
“I would say it’s the perfect start,” Vingegaard said.
“My teammates did an amazing job today … I didn’t have to do much to be honest, they drove me all the way to the finish.
“It’s an amazing victory for us, especially when it’s a team time trial when I had seven teammates who sacrificed for me today.
“To take the yellow jersey, after a few years without it, a few hard years, it’s nice to experience it again.”
La Sagrada Familia provided an incredible backdrop to the Tour opener. (Getty Images: Tim de Waele)
Vingegaard, wearing the yellow jersey for the first time since he won the title in 2023, made plenty of the fact that there was still an awful long way to go, more than 3,000km in fact, before the race finished in Paris.
And although the time gaps are minuscule, the 29-year-old reigning champion of both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España has landed the first psychological blow in what is expected to be a tense battle with his Slovenian rival.
“There’s a long way left. We have a small gap now, but this is the perfect start. I couldn’t dream of a better start,” Vingegaard added.
The team time trial kicked off the Tour for the first time since 1971, although in a departure from tradition, every rider is given their own finishing time as opposed to taking the time of the fourth or fifth rider in the team.
Teams took an innovative approach to keeping cool, with Netcompany Ineos placing their arms in iced water in the warm-up, and Alpecin-Premier Tech sucking on icy poles.
Alpecin-Premier Tech riders sucked on icy poles ahead of their effort. (Supplied: Tour de France)
Netcompany Ineos riders put their arms in ice baths during the warm-up. (Supplied: Tour de France)
Reuters reported that race officials will be allowed to cancel stages if a red heatwave alert is issued, according to a French Interior Ministry document.
“In exceptional circumstances, and in consultation with the organiser and all relevant parties, you may decide to cancel a stage if health or operational conditions no longer allow for the simultaneous safeguarding of spectators and staff, and the continued provision of emergency services to the public,” the document addressed to regional prefects said.
Temperatures in Carcassonne, which will hosts the first French departure of this year’s Tour for Tuesday’s fourth stage, could reach 39 degrees Celsius, according to forecasts.
Netcompany Ineos finished in second place, with former world time trial champion Filippo Ganna sitting in second overall.
Juan Ayuso is fourth, 15 seconds back, while Remco Evenepoel paid for a sluggish start from his Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team to finish in fifth, 19 seconds back, although put 16 seconds into his teammate Florian Lipowitz.
Great French hope Paul Seixas, wearing lucky number 51, looked superb but lost 39 seconds to Vingegaard.
Bib number 51, known as the “dossard anisé”, is traditionally considered a fortuitous one and is regularly given by race organisers to the leading French hope.
Legendary riders Eddy Merckx (1969), Luis Ocaña (1973), Bernard Thévenet (1975) and Bernard Hinault (1978) all wore the number when they won on their debuts.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot also wore bib number 51 when she won the Tour de France Femmes last year.
Australia’s Team Jayco AlUla finished 12th. (Reuters: Gonzalo Fuentes)
Michael Matthews is the best-ranked Australian, sitting in 15th place overall for Jayco AlUla, who finished 12th on the stage.
“We went out f***ing hard, and paid the price a bit,” his teammate Luke Plapp told SBS.
“We’re probably not where we’d like to be.”
Other big losers on the day included Netcompany INEOS leader Kévin Vauquelin, who had a rear-wheel puncture midway through the stage, dropping off the back of his team train and delivering his top 10 hopes a serious dent by finishing a minute and 14 seconds back.
Sunday’s second stage sees riders go 168.5km from Tarragona to Barcelona, a lumpy stage finishing at the Barcelona Olympic stadium.
