Cycling: The first yellow jersey of the 2020 Tour de France goes to Alexander Kristoff. The Norwegian won the opening round in Nice ahead of Mads Pedersen. The race was overshadowed by numerous falls.
The start of the Tour de France 2020 falls into the water
Mouth guard on, keep your distance and the Tour de France enjoy. Some people followed this appeal from tour director Christian Prudhomme at the Grand Départ in Nice. Even if there were significantly fewer people on site than we know from the Tour of France - fortunately there can be no question of a ghost tour. And even the pros left no doubt after registering with face masks that the Tour de France can now start. The sun was still shining at the beginning of the 156,0 kilometer stage with start and finish in Nice. But as the racing progressed, the weather on the Côte d'Azur got worse. The French set off in the light rain Fabien Grellier (Total Direct Energy) and Cyril Gautier (B&B Hotels – Vital Concept p/b KTM) together with the Swiss Michael Schar (CCC) on the run.
Numerous falls on rain-soaked roads
Unfortunately, as usual, there were numerous falls at the start of the Tour de France. But this time the number of falls reached a dimension that was probably unprecedented. Among other things, it got caught in the increasingly heavy rain Dominic Pozzo alive (NTT), Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale), George Bennett (Jumbo - Visma), Caleb Ewan (Lotto - Soudal), Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick-Steo) and Christophe Laporte (Cofidis). Listing all the professionals who fell would go beyond the scope here. It is likely that more pilots fell than stayed on their bikes. As of now, nobody had to give up. But Pavel Shivakov (Ineos) seemed to be visibly suffering and some other pros suffered at least unpleasant abrasions.
Fabien Grellier conquers the mountain jersey
After yourself Fabien Grellier secured the first mountain classification, he was caught up by the peloton. There Michael Schar the second mountain classification Cyril Gautier won, all three breakaways have 2 points on their account. Because Michael Schär and Fabien Grellier each won a classification, today's stage placement decided which of these two professionals will be allowed to wear the first mountain jersey of the 2020 Tour de France tomorrow. So the decision fell on Fabien Grellier. Michael Schär took the maximum number of points in the sprint classification. Fourth - and thus first out of the main draw - was Peter Sagan (Bora – hansgrohe) before Matteo Trentin (CCC) and Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick Step). Around 55,0 kilometers before the finish, the remaining escapees were caught. The peloton then agreed on a temporary ceasefire. Because of this solidarity action, some suspended professionals were able to catch up again.
Alexander Kristoff uses his weather conditions
Finally arriving on the flat without rain, the race was practically restarted 21 kilometers from the finish. Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) tried his hand as a soloist but was only able to stay ahead by around 8 kilometers. After that, no one should dare to challenge the sprinter teams. The Sprint Royal was inevitable. However, as expected, it was chaotic. Shortly after the 3-kilometer mark, there was another mass fall, into which too Thibaut Pinot (Groupama – FDJ) was involved. Luckily, they don't have to put up with any loss of time. In the sprint itself could alexander kristoff (UAE) made perfect use of the weather conditions and won the stage. The Norwegian loves bad weather and races that are driven hard. World Champion moved into second place Mads pedersen (Trek – Segafredo) before Cees Bol (Sunweb). This means that Alexander Kristoff will start in the yellow jersey tomorrow.
🏆 🇳🇴 @Kristoff87 wins the first stage! 🏆
🏆 🇳🇴 @Kristoff87 remporte this premiere étape! 🏆#TDF2020 #TDFunited pic.twitter.com/yP7w9xtwxi
- Tour de France ™ (@LeTour) August 29, 2020