Dutchman claims polka dot jersey on day marred by multiple crashes
The world’s most famous cycling race had finally arrived – ‘La Grande Boucle’ started today in Brest with a long 197.8km parcours that was far from easy. Six categorised climbs dotted the coastal profile, and while the third category climb that formed the finale in Landerneau was far from a summit finish, the day’s exertions meant the day’s outcome would be difficult to predict. From the very start, it was clear this was a race like no other, with multiple riders working to get in the day’s break and there was a high level of excitement – as well as nervousness – in the peloton. For a rider making his first appearance in the race, Ide Schelling confidently made his way into the day’s break, the Dutchman instrumental in the escape building a lead that hit almost four minutes. With less than 100km left to race, Ide clipped off the front and left his fellow breakaway riders behind, and it was this move that allowed him to claim almost all of the remaining mountain points and put him in the Tour de France’s Maillot à Pois. The remainder of the break was caught soon after Ide left them behind, just before the day’s intermediate sprint, where Peter Sagan took third place in his quest for the green jersey of points leader. A crash caused by a spectator with 45km to go created a split in the main bunch, and with so many riders brought down, the narrow road made it impossible to pass, with several BORA-hansgrohe riders caught up here. Trying hard to bring things back together, the pace in the peloton ramped up, a move that brought Ide’s lead down dramatically. Caught with 27.7km to go, Ide settled back into the bunch, but while the peloton had their thoughts on the finish, a second crash with 7.5km to go took down half the bunch once again, creating more splits. The remaining riders hit the day’s final climb with its maximum gradients of 14%, and these demanding inclines saw only a few riders make it into a select group to contest the win, Wilco Kelderman representing BORA-hansgrohe in this lead group. A late attack from Alaphilippe took the stage, but Wilco came in fifth, just eight seconds behind. From here it was a nervous wait to see how the day’s events had affected the other riders, with most of them having been caught up in the crashes. Coming in safe to collect his polka dot jersey, Ide was the last of the team to cross the line, marking the end of a tough day at only the first stage of the race. While there were no serious injuries in the team, some abrasions and hematomas will be probably felt in the coming days.
Results
01 J.Alaphilippe 4h39’05”
02 M.Matthews + 0:08
03 P.Roglič + 0:08
From the Finish Line
“The goal for me today was to try to make it to the breakaway and take my chances at the polka dot jersey. It’s a beautiful jersey and I knew I had to do things differently to get hold of it. So, when I got the chance, I attacked the rest of breakaway to catch them by surprise and take the points. I managed to build a big gap and the DS in the car told me to go for it and give it my all to the next summit. I put in a big effort, it was hard but I’m extremely happy to put on this jersey. You don’t often get a chance to win it on the first day of the Tour de France. We’ll have to see how my legs are doing tomorrow but we’ll try to keep it.” – Ide Schelling
“It was a hard stage with a lot of tension and crashes. I was caught up in the first big crash. I didn’t suffer any serious injury but I lost time and had to spend a lot of energy to make it back to the front group. The Tour de France just started and we’ll fight every day.” – Peter Sagan
“The first day of the Tour de France is always hectic. We had a lot of up down in the day and it’s good we had Ide in the breakaway. He has the king of the mountain jersey so that’s really good. With about 50km to 60km to go there was a big crash in the peloton and Peter, a few other teammates and I got caught up. I managed to catch the peloton afterward and be in the front group in the finale. It was a hard finish, but I had good legs and tried to sprint and give my best, finishing fifth. My legs feel well but my elbow is hurting. It’s a bit of a disappointment but it’s not so bad. I will recover and fight in the next stages.” – Wilco Kelderman
“As expected, we had a very stressful first stage of the Tour de France. We knew that in that parcours, up and down, left and right all day, it would be dangerous and the goal would be to stay in a good position. We also had as a goal to send Ide in the breakaway, this worked out very well, he now has the polka dot jersey and that’s nice. Unfortunately, we weren’t very lucky, there were a lot of crashes and we had six riders on the ground. It’s not what we had hoped in the finale. Wilco was there, in the leading group, but all the other riders had to change bikes and spend a lot of energy to come back to the bunch. It wasn’t our best day but we are happy for Ide and we look forward to the next stages.” – Enrico Poitschke, Sports Director
