Tour de France starts with heavy rain and fall chaos
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These are the favorites: Buchmann, Roglic and Co. are chasing Egan Bernal
Defending champion Egan Bernal is the hottest candidate for overall victory in the Tour de France. The path to the yellow jersey will be anything but a walk for the young Colombian on an immensely difficult tour of France. Many competitors are scraping his throne.
In the meantime, the 176 professionals drove walking pace in heavy rain, resulting in numerous falls. But at the end of the first stage of the Tour de France, things really took off. After the sprint, it’s off to the mountains on Sunday.
Alexander Kristoff surprisingly won the start of the 107th Tour de France. The 33-year-old Norwegian won the sometimes chaotic first stage in the sprint and slipped into the yellow jersey. Second was the Danish world champion Mads Pedersen.
The 176 drivers had to complete a 156-kilometer circuit in and around Nice, including two mountains in the third category. The Frenchman Fabien Grellier secured the red dotted jersey of the best climber with two points.
Power pack: Alexander Kristoff won another race after more than a year
Source: dpa / Thibault Camus
But the great danger lurked downhill. Heavy rains had turned the road into a slide. In connection with the nervousness in the field, which is typical for the first stage of the tour, a painful connection: There were numerous falls. The Russian Pavel Sivakov even got it twice.
Emanuel Buchmann was relieved when he reached the finish line on the Promenade des Anglais without scratching. “It wasn’t an easy task. Super dangerous, super slippery. The team did a good job. I crossed the finish line safely, that’s important, ”said Buchmann.
Slowly down the hill: the riders played it safe in the rain after many falls
What: REUTERS
It was quite a feat to reach the goal unscathed. Again and again drivers went to the ground. Shortly before the finish line, co-favorite Thibaut Pinot came in with a tattered jersey. France’s second favorite Julian Alaphilippe was not spared either. A smaller group sprinted for the win, from which Kristoff prevailed over the Danish world champion Mads Pedersen and the Dutchman Cees Bol from the German Sunweb team.
The twelve German riders did not play a major role on the first stage, but were largely spared from the many falls. “I drove 120 percent carefully down the mountains. I was almost the slowest. I saw a lot of crashed drivers, ”said Maximilian Schachmann.
The track was so slippery that veteran Tony Martin occasionally took the lead and asked the field to moderate.
Tour without Froome and Nibali
The peloton will stay in Nice on Sunday. On the 186-kilometer circuit, the Col de la Colmiane and the Col de Turini are already waiting for two mountains in the first category, so that one of the favorites could win the yellow jersey: last year’s winner Egan Bernal or his great challenger Primoz Roglic.
Some of the familiar faces of the other drivers in the overall ranking are not included. In addition to four-time tour winner Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas is also absent from the tour due to lack of form. In addition, Steven Kruijswijk is prevented from breaking his collarbone, and Vincenzo Nibali prefers to compete in the local Giro d’Italia.
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