(Rimini) Frenchman Romain Bardet, who has finished on the podium twice, won the first stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, donning the yellow jersey for the first time.
Combined with intense heat, one of the toughest opening stages in recent years created problems for Mark Cavendish and many other cyclists.
Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, who is looking to win a third Tour, and Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard, the two-time defending champion, both finished in the peloton.
Vingegaard’s performance was particularly encouraging given that he was hospitalized for nearly two weeks in Spain in April after a major high-speed pileup during the Tour of the Basque Country. He suffered broken collarbones, ribs and a collapsed lung.
Bardet, who finished second in 2016 and third in 2017, is competing in his final Tour. He launched an attack with just over 50 kilometers to go. He caught up with teammate Frank van den Broek, who had previously escaped, and the pair barely held off the peloton’s rise.
Bardet got ahead of his teammate at the finish and pointed at him to say: “thank you”. It was Bardet’s fourth career stage victory, but a first since 2017.
The 206-kilometre route from Florence to the seaside resort of Rimini included seven climbs and more than 3,600 metres of elevation gain. Temperatures soared to 36 degrees Celsius.
Cavendish threw up twice and fell behind on the very first climb as he attempts to break a tie with Eddy Merckx for the most career stage wins.