2018 Tour de France: Stage 1 News, Notes & Quotes

The 105th Tour de France started with a Fernando Gaviria beating the world’s best sprinters and defending race leader Chris Froome caught in a late-stage crash.

Perfect Sprint

Fernando Gaviria didn’t waste any time in leaving an indelible mark over the 105th Tour de France, as he produced a perfect sprint on the uphill drag to Fontenay-Le-Comte to win the opening stage of the race and don the first yellow jersey, capping off a perfect day for Quick-Step Floors.

“It’s incredible, I don’t have enough words to tell you how I feel on this amazing day. I was thinking of the victory, but to take also the yellow jersey was a dream, a dream which I turned into reality thanks to the beautiful work of all my teammates, who rode their heart out for me and made sure of bringing me into the best position for the final. That’s why this win isn’t just mine, is of the entire team”, said Fernando, whose palmares includes now days spent in both the maglia rosa and the maillot jaune, two of cycling’s most prized jerseys.

The 201km-long stage which rolled out from Noirmoutier-en-l’Île was a quiet one until the last ten kilometers, when just moments after the three escapees got caught – thanks mainly to Tim Declercq’s outstanding effort – everything blew up due to a crash which splintered the peloton, leaving only 70 riders in the front. The drama continued, as other riders crashed or punctured out of the group, which was led by Niki Terpstra and Philippe Gilbert, who put down the hammer, stretching out the field as the Quick-Step Floors train was beginning to assemble.

Liège–Bastogne–Liège winner Bob Jungels led under the flamme rouge arch, before Belgian Champion Yves Lampaert upped the tempo as he dived into the last corner, with 750 meters to go. Once Yves peeled off the front, Max Richeze showed why he is one of the best lead-out men in the business, keeping his cool as the peloton was traveling at 60 km/h and ideally launching Fernando Gaviria, who held off the charge of Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) and Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) to take the most important victory of his career so far.

First day in the Tour de France, first victory, first yellow jersey – all these made for a remarkable achievement and a fantastic debut of Fernando Gaviria, whose maiden outing at the Grande Boucle has been highly-anticipated since last year, when he cruised to four stage wins and the cyclamen jersey at the Giro d’Italia.

“Being the first stage of the Tour de France it was pretty stressful, but the guys perfectly organized themselves, kept me protected and overcome all the obstacles, be it crosswinds or roundabouts, which came thick and fast in the final kilometers. It was thanks to their work and the strong legs I had that I could beat two strong riders and take a yellow jersey Colombia had been waiting for 15 years.”

“I don’t know for how long we will keep the yellow jersey in the team, for now all we want is to enjoy this beautiful moment, continue taking it day by day and see how things unfold. It’s true that I also scored important points today, but I’m not thinking of the green jersey, it’s still too early for that. It’s a proud and happy day of my life, which motivates me even more for the upcoming stages”, concluded Fernando Gaviria, the fifth rider in the history of Quick-Step Floors to take the Tour de France yellow jersey, after landing the team’s 33rd stage win at the century-old race.

Second for Sagan

“It was flat, with a parcours that suited the pure sprinters and, as expected, we had a brisk finishing sprint. The guys did an excellent job throughout the stage and in the tense final kilometres protected Rafał and me from all the trouble. We stayed clear of all the crashes. I felt my legs in good shape and took second in the stage. It’s just the start of a long Tour de France.” – Peter Sagan, UCI World Champion

Froome Limits Losses

What had been a straightforward day quickly turned into a hectic dash for home, with defending race champion Chris Froome being edged off the road and into a field with around six kilometres remaining.

Froome was able to quickly remount and join a large chasing group of riders after the peloton had split in a large crash 11km from home.

Froome eventually crossed the line 51 seconds back on stage winner Gaviria.

Back at the bus Froome said: “I saw a lot of crashes out there today. It’s just one of those things. We always knew the first few days were going to be tricky and going to be sketchy. It’s part of the game unfortunately.

“We were right at the front part of the peloton in the top third. There wasn’t too much more the guys could have done. It was getting quite chaotic with some of the sprinters there, but that’s bike racing. I’m just grateful I’m not injured in any way and there’s a lot of road to cover before Paris obviously.”

Porte Caught Behind Crash

The crash near the finish saw splits form and while Richie Porte was not involved, he was caught up behind the crash and forced to stop momentarily.

His teammates responded quickly around him and were able to get him into the chasing group while up ahead, Greg Van Avermaet sat in the first part of the peloton.

Van Avermaet was BMC Racing Team’s first rider across the line, finishing with the same time as the stage winner, while Porte eventually finished in a group 51 seconds behind alongside some of his main General Classification rivals including Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Adam Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT).

“It was pretty nervous there. It was not ideal but I think Quintana (Movistar Team) has probably lost more [than me], Froome (Team Sky) was there, and Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT) was there. That’s the Tour. I was pretty close to coming down. I sort of rode Damiano Caruso, my teammate, into the ground and that softened the blow. I don’t really know what happened to be honest, it’s just one of those things. It’s all ok and the next thing, there’s a crash in front. There were a few more crashes after that.”

“There were other guys there, some worse off than me. It’s the first day of the Tour and it’s not ideal. But there’s a long way [to go] and it’s just nice to finally start the race. It’s definitely swings and roundabouts, this race. Guys took time today but who’s to say the same doesn’t happen to them tomorrow. The guys were good around me today and it’s a shame but we’ll see how the next days go.”