After a longer wait than usual, the first Grand Tour of the 2020 season had finally arrived. Starting and finishing in Nice, the race’s Grand Départ consisted of three loops around the city, totalling 156km. The two third category climbs wouldn’t figure in the day’s result, with the flat finale making this a day for the sprinters. While the parcours would be drenched in sunshine in the summer, the late August start saw rain soaking the peloton and create risky conditions on the roads that caught many riders unaware. Throughout the day there were crashes as the nerves in the peloton came to the surface, a mix of single riders losing traction on corners to large falls that brought down entire sections of the peloton.
Attacking riding saw some small groups forming on the road, but the peloton was always close behind, pulling them back as the race ebbed and flowed. At the day’s intermediate sprint, with two riders narrowly ahead, Peter was first from the peloton to cross the line, taking thirteen points for his efforts. By the time the race had entered its final 50km, there was still no break and it seemed destined to stay that way, and as the race neared the finish and the sprint trains formed, the decision was made to take the GC times from the 3km to go point to avoid danger in the finale – only for a crash at the 3km mark splitting the peloton. Brought into position by Daniel Oss, Peter Sagan was in the front and ready to challenge for the win. In a long and hard-fought sprint, with the sprinters riding into a headwind, Peter stayed in contention to the end, crossing the line in fifth position.
Results
01 A. Kristoff 3:46:23
02 M. Pedersen +0:00
03 C. Bol +0:00
…
05 P. Sagan +0:00
From the Finish Line
“It was a very hard stage with a crazy finale. The last 5km were all the way headwind, the bunch was very nervous, a big mess. Sprints like this one with headwind are always a lottery and I think you also need good luck at times.” – Peter Sagan
“Staying safe wasn’t an easy task today, it was extremely dangerous and slippery and nearly half the peloton crashed. The team did a very good job throughout the stage and I finished safely, which was the key point. I come to the Tour de France after a crash at the Dauphiné but the pace wasn’t very high today, so you could say I was in good shape. Most importantly, I didn’t feel any pain in my hips.” – Emanuel Buchmann
“The stage was already a very technical one with the descents and on top of that the rain created some dangerous situations. Our focus was to stay safe, all the time in a good position, and the riders did it very well. I’d like to thank them for that and we were lucky in the end as nobody had a hard tumble. There were so many crashes and we were involved only once or twice, without any issue, all riders are fine. In my view, the bunch took the right decision to go easy on the downhills. Peter took some points in the intermediate sprint and then claimed fifth on the finish line. I think more was possible there but overall we are happy we avoided any hard crashes and we look forward to the next stages.” – Enrico Poitschke, Sports Director
