Geraint Thomas powered into the yellow jersey after an incredible ride to kick off the 2017 Tour de France. The Welshman set a winning time of 16 minutes and four seconds on soaking wet roads in Dusseldorf, not only claiming his first ever Grand Tour stage victory, but the maillot jaune to boot.
After enduring a nervous wait on the hot seat Thomas took the win by five seconds, leading home a superb showing from Team Sky – who placed four riders in the top eight positions.
Vasil Kiryienka was the early pace-setter and clocked the third best time on the day, while Chris Froome made a statement of his own with sixth place in Germany, the best of the GC contenders out on course. Michal Kwiatkowski debuted his new Polish national champion’s skinsuit with eighth.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” admitted a shell-shocked Thomas after the stage.
“I hadn’t even thought about it to be honest I was super relaxed coming in. I felt like somebody was going to beat me.
“I’ve had my fair share of bad luck this year and back home the last month hasn’t been great – my wife and mum have both had a bit of a rough time.
“It’s amazing to get this win and thanks to everyone who has supported me. It’s a great day.”
In addition to the famed yellow jersey, Thomas also pulled on the green points jersey, with Team Sky taking an early lead in the teams classification.
Stefan Küng impresses in TdF Debut:
In his Tour de France debut and wearing his Swiss National Time Trial champion skinsuit for the first time, Stefan Küng set a flying time to pass the intermediate checkpoint in third place, one second behind.
Küng maintained his speed and power as he approached the finish line and crossed the line five seconds behind eventual winner Thomas to take second place.
“I would have loved to be in yellow but congratulations to Geraint Thomas. It was a really amazing time. I was down one second on Tony Martin at the intermediate check point and I really tried to pull off a good finish. I put into some time on Tony but Geraint Thomas must have been flying at the end. I did everything I could and second place it is. In a time trial you always have to take risks but there is always a line and you don’t want to cross it and lie on the floor. It happened to me already so I really tried to stay upright but also go as fast as possible. I think I managed it ok, maybe not the best, but in the end I tried to make a difference on the long straight.”
Hopefuls Crash:
The sky was grey all day long and it rained for most of the stage, forcing most riders to limit their risks.
Unfortunately, Tony Gallopin of Lotto-Soudal hit the deck in one of the corners and crashed into the barriers. Gallopin hurt his ankle, but has no fractures. He will get the necessary treatment tonight, which means compression, ice and rest. He will try to start tomorrow with a taped ankle.
Worse, however, was the crash of Alejandro Valverde.
The 2017 Tour barely lasted seven kilometers for the Movistar Team leader as he suffered a serious crash during the time trial, forcing him to abandon.
Transferred by ambulance to the University Hospital in Düsseldorf, examinations confirmed two fractures to his left leg: one in his kneecap and another one in the talus bone. Valverde also suffered a deep wound to his tibia, without any muscle tissue affected by that cut.
The doctors taking care of Valverde’s condition have decided to operate him on his kneecap fracture tonight, which means that Valverde will remain in Germany for the next few hours and the schedule for his return home is still unconfirmed. The recovery time expected by the Movistar Team’s doctors makes it unlikely for the Spaniard to return racing during the current season.
Stage 1 Brief Results/GC:
- Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky) 16:04″
- Stefan Küng (Switzerland / BMC Racing) +5″
- Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus / Team Sky) +7″
- Tony Martin (Germany / Katusha) +8″
- Matteo Trentin (Italy / Quick-Step) +10″
- Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) +12″
- Jos van Emden (Netherlands / LottoNL) +15″
- Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland / Team Sky)
- Marcel Kittel (Germany / Quick-Step) +16″
- Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Dimension Data)
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