Tour de France stage 1 Live – Hilly race to Rimini to decide first yellow jersey

By finishing fifth on the stage, Van Gils will wear white, keeping the jersey warm for Van den Broeck, who leads that classification as well as the points classification.

Bardet will wear yellow tomorrow, of course, for the first time in his career at the Tour de France. For his stirling efforts helping him Van Den Broeck will wear green, while Abrahamsen did enough to take the polka-dot jersey ahead of Madouas.

The same applies for Mark Cavendish, but he seems to have put the worst behind him earlier in the day, and is also presumably on course to make it to the finish in time. 

One rider not able yet with the rest of his DSM teammates is Fabio Jakobsen. He’s still out on the road trying to finish within the time limit, but it seems as though he will make it.

As for the GC contenders, there were no major surprises, with all the top favourites finishing in the 50-or-so strong peloton – including Juan Ayuso and Santiago Buitrago, despite some of his problems. 

Here’s the top ten in full:

1 Romain Bardet

2 Frank van den Broeck at same time

3 Wout van Aert at 5secs

4 Tadej Pogačar

5 Max Van Gils

6 Alex Aranburu

7 Mads Pedersen

8 Remco Evenepoel

9 Pello Bilbao

10 Alberto Bettiol all at same time

For all the work done by their respective Lidl-Trek and EF Education-EasyPost teams, Pedersen and Bettiol didn’t have it in the sprint after all, finishing down in seventh and tenth. Pedersen must have used up so much energy just to still be in the peloton after all that climbing, while Bettiol isn’t a natural sprinter.

And what about Frank van den Broek? Bardet couldn’t have done it without him, and he announces himself as a major talent with this ride – not to mention an exemplary teammate. He can demand one hell of a pay rise when contract talks reopen.

It’s an emotional moment for Romain Bardet, who can’t have expected his final Tour de France to begin this way when he announced his retirement recently. He’s been one of the great French riders of his generation, and this is one of the best moments of his career.

It’s one thing to win a stage and take the yellow jersey at the Tour de France – to do so with two of your riders crossing the line together is the stuff teams dream of.

That was an astonishing finish, and a truly extraordinary achievement from Team dsm-firmenich PostNL.

Behind Van Aert wins the sprint for third place, a few seconds behind.

Bardet was first over the line, and takes the victory!

Theyve done it!

It’s looking good for them…

They have a chance…

1KM TO GO

Final kilometre!

The peloton has them in their sights now.

1,500 metres to go, 11 seconds.

Pedersen and Van Aert will have started to think about their sprint, is there anyone who can compete with them if they do catch the leaders?

2KM TO GO

Just 14 seconds for the leaders…

The clock has updated, and is now saying 22 seconds. Only 3km left to ride. It’s still very close. 

There aren’t much numbers in this severely reduced peloton to take up the chase, and they appear to be struggling. 

4m to go, and the clock is still saying 35 seconds. If that’s correct, it’s looking better for the DSMs.

5km to go, 35 seconds. This is going to be agonisingly close. 

40 seconds now for the leaders, with 7.5km still to ride. 

EF are the third team contributing. They clearly still believe in Bettiol, even if he’s unlikely to have the kick to compete with Pedersen and Van Aert. 

10KM TO GO

50 seconds now for the leaders. The advantage is swinging towards the peloton.

Visma-Lease a Bike are also joining the chase, trying to set up Wout van Aert.

The gap comes under one minute for the first time in a while, and there’s still 11km left to ride. 

In the peloton, EF have been joined by Lidl-Trek, who have Mads Pedersen still in the peloton. They are going to do everything thay can to let him sprint for the stage win.

There’s an irony in that this exceptional ride by the two DSM riders could yet cause the team’s sprinter, Fabio Jakobsen, to potentially miss the time cut. 

As for Cavendish, he’s under half an hour behind the peloton, and should make the time cut. We’re unsure exactly where Jakobsen is though – he could be in more trouble if he’s been dropped from that group. 

Still 1-25 for the DSM leaders, though things are about to get harder as they finish descending and ride on the flat. 

Bardet has won three Tour de France stages in his career, but never worn the yellow jersey. This would be a huge moment in his career. 

The two leaders Bardet and Van den Broek, digging deep. 

20KM TO GO

20km to go for the leaders, and theyhave 1-30 over the peloton. It’s still EF doing the work in the peloton. 

They’re not worrying about that just yet. They still have 24km to ride to make it to the finish. 

We had assumed that Bardet would be the DSM rider to take the glory today, but if he and Van den Broek make it to the finish together, will they sprint against each other? Or have an agreement about who takes the stage, and therefore the yellow jersey?

The DSM are taking risks down this descent. With EF upping the pace they might have to, but they do still have a big lead of 1-37.

EF have changed their plan. With Healy going nowhere, they’ve taken over at the front of the peloton. We can expect a Bettiol attack shortly. 

Bardet reaches the top of the climb, and still Van den Broek is there! Bardet’s ride is extraordinary, but Van den Broek’s is arguably even more impressive given he was dropped from the break earlier. 

Here’s Ben Healy chasing the two leaders. He’s still not making inroads, however, and is over a minute down. 

The three Visma riders behind Kelderman are Vingegaard, Jorgenson and Van Aert. Van Aert might fancy his chances for a stage win, but it’s slipping away for them with Bardet still almost two minutes ahead. 

30KM TO GO

Less than 4km of climbing left for Bardet, after which there’s just a descent and flat section to the finish. This is looking good for the Frenchman…

A line of four Visma-Lease a Bike riders lead the peloton, followed by six Ineos riders. 

Healy had caught Madouas earlier, and now has dropped him on this climb. The Irishman is now third on the road. 

Wilco Kelderman is now taking it up for Visma-Lease a Bike. Might they go in for the kill, and try to eliminate Juan Ayuso from GC contention?

It’s looking good for Bardet for now, who has a lead of a minute over Healy and now 2 minutes on the peloton, and still has his teammate Van den Broek for company. 

They’re on the final climb of the day, the Coté de San Marino. If we’re going to see GC action, or attacks from the peloton to try to catch these breakaway riders, they’re going to have to do so here. 

As for Cavendish, he has been limiting his losses better recently, and is about 20 minutes behind the peloton. Things aren’t looking as perilous for him as earlier. 

At the back of the race, Fabio Jakobsen is now struggling even more than Cavendish. He’s been dropped by the Astana riders, with his teammate Bram Welten waiting up to help. 

Now Visma-Lease a Bike lead the peloton over the summit of the climb, 45 seconds after Healy. It’s not a guarantee that they will being these riders back, especially if they keep going at this pace.

Ben Healy now reaches the top, a minute behind the leaders. 

Bardet reaches the top, and he still has Van den Broek with him. That’ll be of help as he pushes on during the descent to the foot of the next and final climb.

Juan Ayuso is struggling at the back of the peloton! This would explain why UAE have eased off.

40KM TO GO

Madouas has cracked, just over a kilometre from the top. he DSM duo are riding away from him, as are his hopes of being in the polka-dot jersey. 

Visma-Lease a Bike are again leading the peloton up this climb. Whatever plan UAE might have had, they appear to be changing tune now and riding more defensively. 

Now Abrahamsen has to hope that Madouas can’t hang on to the two DSM riders for the rest of this climb, otherwise the Frenchaman may take the polka-dot jersey instead. 

Abrahamsen is done. The pace from Van den Broek is too much for him, and he’s dropped from the lead group. It was an excellent day for him nonetheless.

We assumed EF were working for Bettiol earlier, but it seems their plan was multi-pronged. 

Attack from Ben Healy! The Irishman makes his move just as the peloton starts the climb.

Van den Broek has been put to work immediatley. He’ll bury himself now for Bardet, and stay with him for as long as possible. 

Madouas and Abrahamsen start the next, and day’s penultimate climb, and within seconds have been joined by the two DSM riders.

They now have almost 1-20 on the peloton, too. Bardet is in with a chance!

Bardet and Van den Broek are flying down the descent, and almost with the leading duo. 

The leaders crest the climb, with Madouas taking the points from Abrahamsen. The latter remains in the lead of the KOM virtually. 

Now he’s reached his DSM teammate Van den Broek, who can set the pace for him. This has turned into a very smart ploy by Bardet and his team. 

Gibbons is the next rider Bardet passes on his way towards the top of the climb.

Bardet is also already 40 seconds ahead of the peloton, who clearly aren’t worried about letting him go. 

Bardet is flying up this climb. He’s just passed Mohorič, and is closing down on the leaders, already just 40 seconds behind. 

50KM TO GO

And now Van den Broek has been dropped, leaving just Madouas and Abrahamsen at the front. 

Talking of the break, it’s splitting up on this climb. Gibbons and Mohorič have been dropped by the other three.

An interesting move from the experienced French rider, who’s taking part in his last ever Tour de France. With the break now just 1-15 from the peloton, he might feel he can bridge the gap.

Attack from Romain Bardet!

The peloton doesn’t look like it has much more than 40 riders left in it. 

Now UAE take control again, with Sivakov resuming the pace-setting. 

It’s not UAE leading on the approach to this climb, but rather Ineos Grenadiers and Bora-Hansgrohe. 

The break have started the next climb, Coté de San Leo. It’s a steep one, averaging 7.7% for 4.8km. 

Bike change needed for Richard Carapaz in the peloton. This has been a better start to his Tour so far than last year’s, when he crashed and abandoned on the very first day. 

60KM TO GO

Two minutes between the leading quintet and the peloton, while Cavendish continues to toil a further 17 minutes adrift. 

Here’s EF Education-EasyPost setting the pace in the peloton for Italian national champion Alberto Bettiol to his left, with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard to his right. They’ve since moved over for UAE Team Emirates.  

Ion Izagirre is now back in the peloton, which is now just over minutes away from the break.

Buitrago is part of a group that has rejoined the peloton on the descent, however, along with Pedersen. But with three more climbs to come, he’ll have to recover fast if he’s not to lose time.

Now even outside GC contenders are sturggling – Bahrain Victorious’ leader Santiago Buitrago has been dropped. That’s a surprise, as this terrain seems tailer-made for him.

By taking maximum points Abrahamsen takes over from the dropped Ion Izagirre as the virtual King of the Mountains. Valentin Madouas was second to the summit, meaning he is now third-place virtually. 

More big names out the back of the peloton – Van der Poel and Pedersen. The pace set by UAE on this climb is proving to be too much for many fancied for the stage win.

70KM TO GO

And Abrahamsen takes maximum points. It looked like Van den Broek was going to pip him, after he overtook the Norwegian close to the summit, but he faded at the last push.

Abrahamsen sprints for the mountain points, from far out.

It’s actually Pavel Sivakov who’s leading for UAE, with Marc Soler waiting in the wings. His work is fast bringing the break closer. 

Arnaud De Lie has also been dropped from the peloton with Stevie Williams. This is looking more and more like a stage for the climbers than the puncheurs. 

Huge crowds greeting the break as they continue up the climb, even a kilometres out from the summit. 

Wellens has done his turn, and now it’s the turn of Marc Soler to take over for UAE.

Michael Matthews now dropped out the peloton, another who might have fancied his chances.

Back in the break, Madouas is setting the pace, and Izagirre has surprisingly been dropped as a result. 

Magnus Cort now being dropped, who had been considered an outside shout for the stage win. 

Bad news for David Gaudu, who is slipping out the back of the peloton. He’s been in bad form going into the race, but wouldn’t have expected to suffer this much. His GC hopes might be over already. 

Tim Wellens is the man leading the peloton up the climb for UAE Team Emirates. 

Now UAE Team Emirates take to the front. Is this the beginning of their plan for today?

The pace is slower on the climb, though, the riders more interested in being well-positioned then setting a tempo up it. 

They hit the climb, and it’s Ineos at the front. 

This is the most intense it’s been in the peloton since the breaks were forming at the start of the day. 

And the pace is already up in the peloton as they approach the foot of the climb. Lots of teams want premium position before starting it. 

The leaders are on the climb now, beginning it with a lead of 4-30. That’s still a big gap, but could disslve very quickly once the peloton start riding hard.

80KM TO GO

Just 4km until the start of the next climb, Coté de Barbotto. There’s been a lull in the racing on this long descent, but things should liven up again soon. 

It’s still EF Education-EasyPost leading the peloton, led by Sean Quinn in his snazzy news American national champion jersey.

You can read more about the ongoing sitution with Mark Cavendish here, in what is still shaping out to be the story of the day. 

The Tour has it’s first abandonment – Michele Gazzoli. The Italian was one of the riders with Cavendish, and has clearly been having his own problems. 

90KM TO GO

Just under five minutes between the leaders and the peloton, while the Cavendish group is 10 minutes further down. How Cav handles these final four climbs will be crucial, but things are looking better for him than they were. 

It’s hot out there, and the riders are constantly having to rehydrate. 

100KM TO GO

We’re entering the second half of the stage now, and it’s the hillier half. There’s still some way until the next, about 25km, but with that comes four in quick succession. For now, the gap between the peloton and the six riders remaining in the lead group is four minutes. 

At the back of the race, Cavendish and the Astana riders have some company now as Fabio Jakobsen and his DSM teammate Bram Welten, plus Jonas Rickaert of Alpecin-Deceuninck, drop back. That suggests he’s not suffering uniquely, and should help him survive the day.

We’ve had a first crash on the road today, as Wilco Kelderman hits the deck. The TV cameras didn’t capture the incident, but he’s just been shown now rejoining the peloton, with some bandaging on his left elbow. 

Izagirre launches a sprint towards the top of the summit, and takes maximum points again. Abrahamsen is on his wheel for second, and looks annoyed at the Basque, but it’s hard to tell why – he didn’t appear to do anything wrong. 

110KM TO GO

For minutes at is stands between the leader and the peloton, as they continue making their way up the climb. Cavendish, meanwhile, is over seven minutes adrift from the peloton. 

Pogačar is down a teammate, as Nils Politt is dropped. He has more than enough protection to keep him safe today – in fact, soon we’ll be wondering if and when they will apply pressure at the front of the peloton for a potential attack.

Here’s Mark Cavendish, digging deep and trying to survive. 

More sprinters going out the back now, including Arnaud Demare and Jasper Philipsen. Philipsen may believe it’s job done for the day having earned those intermediate sprint points. 

Mechanical for Dorian Godon, who’ll need to…