With that, I’ll be wrapping up today’s live blog. Thanks for all your emails and for following along to that nervy finish for Cav.
Here’s the report from stage one of the Tour:
Good work from the Astana team to get Cav over the line, he looks alright:
A thumbs up from Mark Cavendish, finishing inside the time cut with just under 10 minutes to spare. 👍 #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/szr5K5tMOJ
— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) June 29, 2024
Cavendish has finished!
He’s inside the cutoff, coming in 39mins 12 secs after Bardet. Assuming he’s fine to continue, he’ll be on the start line tomorrow.
Updated
A few jersey updates, Abrahamsen will take the polka dots, Van Den Broek gets the green points jersey as the leader in that classification on 33 points and 24-year-old Maxim Van Gils of Lotto-Dstny will take the best young rider’s white jersey.
Updated
The cutoff has been set at just over 49 minutes after the winner, Cavendish has not crossed the line yet but has 22 minutes to make it.
Cavendish update: He’s still out on the road, but ITV reckon he’s comfortably within the time limit. I’ll keep you posted on his progress.
Here’s the top ten after stage one:
1. Romain Bardet (FRA) Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL - 5:07:22
2. Frank van den Broek (NED) Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL - same time
3. Wout van Aert (BEL) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +5secs
4. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - same time
5. Maxim Van Gils (BEL) Lotto - Dstny - same time
6. Alex Aranburu (ESP) Movistar Team - same time
7. Mads Pedersen (DEN) Lidl-Trek - same time
8. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal-Quick-Step - same time
9. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain Victorious - same time
10. Alberto Bettiol (ITA) EF Education–EasyPost – same time
Here’s the moment Bardet crossed the line:
🏆 🇫🇷 @romainbardet wins in Rimini! It’s a @dsmfirmpostnl masterpiece!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 29, 2024
🏆🇫🇷 @romainbardet s’impose à Rimini ! Chef d’oeuvre de l’équipe @dsmfirmpostnl !#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/8qri9w823N
As he crossed the line Bardet pointed to his teammate to credit him with delivering the victory, Van Aert finished third on the stage – looks like he’s in form.
Romain Bardet wins stage one of the Tour de France and takes yellow!
The sprinters couldn’t make an impact and the DSM pair cross 150m ahead of the bunch. What a performance from Van Den Broek, he did the big turns in those last five kilometres.
Updated
1km to go: DSM have this!
2km to go: Gap is now ten seconds, DSM still in the lead. Incredible racing!
3km to go: The peloton has the leaders in its sight, gap down to less than 20 seconds.
4km to go: The DSM riders are being encouraged on over team radio, the gap isn’t coming down that quickly now. Maybe this could happen for Bardet? Lidl-Trek is at the front trying to get that split down.
7km to go: DSM efforts looks set to fall short, the gap is now just 36secs. The remanining favourites are you’d think are Pedersen, Ciccone, Bettiol, Van Aert and Pidcock.
Quick explainer on the cutoff rules:
The time cut varies by stage. It is dependent on the difficulty of the stage and the average speed of the winner. The difficulty of each stage is determined on tiers of one to six, known as a ‘coefficient’. Flat stages get a tier one coefficient rating and that goes up based on difficulty. The average speed of the winner is combined with the stage’s coefficient to determine a percentage by which the cutoff is calculated from leaders.
Stage one is rated as third tier coefficient with, so with the average speed so of more than 44kph it looks like the cutoff will be 20% of the winner’s finishing time.
16km to go: A quick Cavendish update, his Astana group is more than 30 minutes back but that’s likely to be OK in terms of the cutoff. Fabio Jakobsen, another sprint favourite with DSM, is with him.
17km to go: Wout van Aert is still with the peloton, we’ll find out how good his legs are if this all comes together.
19km to go: Bardet and Van Den Broek are still pushing at the front but the gap to the peloton has fallen to 1min 20secs.
27km to go: Ineos and Lidl-Trek now on the front of the peloton in a bid to bring back the DSM pair, about half a kilometre to the summit, then it’ll be flat out on the descent to Rimini. Bardet still has a 1min 50 secs lead, he wants that first ever yellow jersey – remarkable given his career that he’s never worn it.
28km to go: Bettiol, Mads Pedersen and Pidcock might all be thinking about a stage win now if the peloton can draw back the DSM riders.
31km to go: Healy has ditched Madouas but is yet to make much of a dent into the lead of the DSM pair. The question now is how much time can Bardet and Van Den Broek put into the peloton? It’s currently hovering around two minutes with 4km to the final summit.
32km to go: Healy has now picked up Madouas but they remain more than a minute behind the DSM riders.
38km to go: Healy is on the descent and is one minute behind Bardet, the peloton are a 1min 45secs further back.
40km to go: Will the DSM riders let Madouas take the latest mountain points in exchange for a bit of help? No, the Groupama-FDJ has blown up and been dropped. Abrahamsen will likely be in the polka dots then.
41km to go: Abrahamsen has gone from the lead group as Bardet and DSM teammate Van Den Broek power on with Madouas in tow. Irishman Ben Healy of EF has gone away from the peloton, can he make a play and bridge over to the leaders who are 1min 06 sec up the road?
Updated
49km to go: Bardet latches on to Van Den Broek and the DSM-Firmenich PostNL pair set off in pursuit of Abrahamsen and Madouas at the front. The Uno-X Mobility rider, Abrahamsen, can’t take maximum mountain points this time but he’s probably in the polkadot jersey with those latest additions.
50km to go: Romain Bardet is attacking off the front of the peloton and no one is going with him right now, he’s got 40 secs already and a teammate ahead of him to help out.
Updated
Eric Farquharson makes a good point on the Olympics:
The Olympic peloton is virtually half the size of the Tour de France due to IOC restrictions on team sizes. I would say that a stage win or podium places in the Tour are far more influential for future contracts and therefore salary expectations than an Olympic medal.
This is what I was getting at earlier when I referred to the race as a bit of a crapshoot. Small teams and parcours designed around local landmarks can lead to races where winners can come from anywhere, so not exactly consistent with who is having a good season.
55km to go: The riders have flown down the descent from the Cote de Barbotto and steaming towards the Cote de San Leo. The breakaway, down to five riders without Izagirre, leads by the peloton by 2mins 18secs.
Updated
71km to go: We’re in pirate country and someone has painted the Italian legend’s name all over the road on the climb, maybe inspired and with Izagirre gone Abrahamsen bursts away takes maxium mountain points from Madouas and Van Den Broek.
William Fotheringham’s latest read on Marco Pantani is well worth your time:
Updated
72km to go: Izagirre going out the back of the lead group, he’s looked strong most of the day but perhaps those efforts earlier have sapped the legs. With the peloton now just 2mins 40secs behind the break, he might be seeing the GC teams quite soon.
More on the Olympic question from Martin O’Donovan-Wright:
In the professional peleton, for the vast majority of riders, an Olympic medal would certainly be regarded below not only a successful Tour de France (podium, or stage wins), but also the Giro, and certainly all the monuments. The sport is admirably self-contained, always with a nod to the history of these illustrious races.
That’s how I’d view it too and I imagine most hardcore cycling fans would feel the same. Although track cycling of course is vastly different.
74km to go: The peloton has brought down the gap to the main group to 3mins 44secs. UAE, Pogačar’s team, have taken over at the front the chase group after a big shift from EF-Education Easypost to cut that time down to the front of the race.
Claus Lund asks a good question:
What is going on with the big names such as Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. The latter in his first race after his very bad accident and Pogačar looking to win after two years’ frustration. How are they performing today so far?
We’ve had one update on Vingegaard by way of the team radio, which suggested he was feeling fine on the first category two climb of the stage – that is good news on his return. Very little to say about Pogačar so far, he’s well-placed in the peloton. Both had full teams around them in the main group.
Nicolas De Smet has an answer to the Olympics question:
Olympics are great but I think that a Tour de France win (prestigious stage or overall rankings) trumps that.
Who remembers Olympic gold? Who remembers Tour de France?
Also fairly few riders are qualified for the Olympics.
88km to go: Breakaway has a five-minute gap as they head towards Cote de Barbotto, the stage’s next category two climb. EF are on the front of the peloton but the gap is holding firm.
Updated
If anyone has thoughts on Andrew’s question, or anything else, do get in touch.
Great question from Andrew Benton via email:
Do you think the riders will take fewer risks this year? I imagine a fair number will be representing their countries at the Olympics, and would be loath to risk missing their chance because of injury, whatever team orders say.
A look at the list of medallists for the road race going back to Sydney is quite baffling – Jan Ullrich, Paolo Bettini, Samuel Sánchez, Alexander Vinokourov, Greg Van Avermaet and Richard Carapaz – it’s probably an illustration of the varied courses set out by Olympic hosts. I’ve never been convinced it’s that big a draw for riders, just because it’s a bit of a crapshoot. I suppose the big question for me is who leads the Slovenian team?
Updated
107km to go: Izigarre has gone early in pursuit of the mountains points on the Cote de Carnaio and has got maximum again. Abrahamsen, who’s really making the most of his day in the break after working extra hard to get in there, throws his arms up in protest as they cross the line but I don’t know why. Izigarre held his line and even moved when looking over his shoulder.
112km to go: We’ve lost a few of riders from the break as Dujardin (TotalEnergies) and Champoussin (Arkea-B&B) fall back.
The group is now down to Abrahamsen, Gibbons, Van Den Broek, Izagirre, Madouas and Mohoric are left.
115km to go: More riders are now drifting out of the back the peloton and the gap to Cavendish isn’t getting too much bigger, so things have stabilised for Astana.
120km to go: Sprint points! Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies) takes 20, with Abrahamsen of Uno-X active again to pick up 17, Lidl-Trek’s Ryan Gibbons gets 15, Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) scores 13, and Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) rounds out the top five with 11.
128km to go: Izagirre takes first place in the latest mini-sprint for the mountain points, with Abrahamsen second. Will get the full result when I have it, but the Cofidis rider is making a play for the jersey after day one.
130km to go: We’re on to a short, 2.2km, category three climb. More pain for Cav when he reaches it, he’ll be battling to make the cut off.
132km to go: The race has whipped down the descent, at the front of the break Ryan Gibbons averaged 23.8km on the way down. The peloton has made up som ground and is now less than four minutes behind the ‘tête de la course’.
David Kemp has another name he likes for today’s stage win:
My 10p is on Alberto Bettiol. Resplendent in his new Italian champion’s jersey, on home roads a victory for the Tuscan would drive the Tifosi to a frenzy.
That it would, David. Italy’s is one of my favourite national champion jerseys in cycling, I usually quite like the Norwegian and the British efforts too.
148km to go: The peloton has brought the gap down now to the break back under five minutes on this descent.
155km to go: Izagirre shows his class by taking an early lead in the mountains classification, Madouas is second, ahead of Abrahamsen and Van Den Broek.
157km to go: Cavendish probably couldn’t have imagined a tougher first stage than three category two climbs. He’s got less than a kilometre to the top of the first of them but the front of the peloton is picking up the pace at just wrong the time and is almost a minute ahead now.
158km to go: There is a bit of concern for Mark Cavendish who is falling behind the peloton. He’s about 15 seconds off the back and his teammates are pouring water over him in an apparent bid to cool him down. Come on Cav, get to stage just three and your chance is there.
160km to go: The lead back to the peloton is now 5mins30secs, a sizeable gap. “Free time,” says Miller on comms. I often feel like it’s the job of the commentator to talk up the breakaway but with the likes of Izagirre in there it’s worth tracking how much time those riders are afforded.
164km to go: TotalEnergies’ Vercher has fallen out of the back of the break and is drifting back towards the peloton, so two in and one out in the lead group.
It sounds like summer has started for William Preston, who emails in:
So begins the best period of each, and every, year. It’s a properly special one, too. We’ve got properly good GC contenders looking to get a stomp on from the get go on this massively tough opening stage, and the world must be willing Cavendish to get another victory.
It would be churlish to consider that other sprinters might realise that allowing him to have it early on, in the hope he’ll then retire from the Tour after that stage win to live, and rightly so, off tales of his thrilling heroics. That would allow them to sort out the rest of the race themselves.
Anyhow, here’s to a cracking three weeks, and have a lovely weekend.
165km to go: Abrahamsen’s effort is rewarded, he’s dragged Gibbons with him and Uno-X now have their treasured spot in the breakaway. The leaders have about 7.3km to go until they reach the summit and can battle it out for the first mountain points.
166km to go: The leaders have about three minutes on the peloton, so it looks unlikely we’ll see an early charge from the favourites just yet. All could change on the lumps and bumps of course.
168km to go: The breakaway group is officially on the climb, the two in pursuit are plugging away and now just 40 seconds behind.
Updated
171km to go: Uno-X Mobility and Lidl-Trek have sent a couple of ‘poursuiavnts’ up the road to bridge the gap to the breakaway. Jonas Abrahamsen has cut the gap to under a minute, Ryan Gibbons of Lidl-Trek is just sitting on the Uno-X man’s wheel.
Richard Cutler emails in with a prediction:
Really, I’ve no idea, but someone in my Velogames group reckons Mathieu van der Poel will do it today, and maybe hold on to yellow for a week. Me, I’ve got 10p on Giulio Ciccone at 35/1, for no reason other than I read somewhere that someone reckoned he’d win today.
As I say, I’ve no idea, but I’ll buy myself a large 99 flake later if it comes in!
William Fotheringham tipped Ciccone in his preview, so not a terrible shout. Not getting much change on a large 99 with a flake from those returns these days.
188km to go: We have a breakaway, at last. Sandy Dujardin, Mateo Vercher (TotalEnergies), Frank Van Den Broek (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Clement Champoussin (Arkea-B&B), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), and Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious). Uno-X Mobility have missed this and are desperately chasing but to little avail so far.
192km to go: We have another group try to go away, Warren Barguil and Simon Geschke have been busy in the early stages but they are surely way too talented to be allowed in the breakaway.
194km to go: Still no break and David Miller reckons it won’t happen now until we hit the first climb at around 176km to go when the peloton ascends Col de Valico tre Faggi.
201km to go: A large group has formed at the front but that looks way too big to be allowed to go away.
205km to go: And we’re off, the flag has dropped and Tour de France 2024 is underway proper.
Updated
Please hit me with your predictions via email. For what it’s worth, I’m backing Tom Pidcock to cause a suprise today. Coming in off a good week on the mountain bike, a punchy stage with a couple of category two climbs.
Close to kilometre zero now, who will look to punch away early doors?
Updated
The Tour de France but make it Italy. Florence, setting off from Piazza della Signoria, riders rolling across Le Ponte Vecchio, they’ve done the full Italian job on this. The riders are still on the rollout and have about 8km to the flag drop.
🤩 What a way to start the #TDF2024
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 29, 2024
🤩 Quelle manière de commencer le #TDF2024 @LeTour_Italia 👋 pic.twitter.com/JJwu4O6B8w
Updated
Here’s a look at today’s stage, Saturday 29 June: Florence to Rimini, 206km, with William Fotheringham’s preview.
A first Grand Départ in Italy, ironically when cycling talent in this traditional heartland is vanishingly scarce. There will be barely any Italians on the start list and there is zero prospect of a repeat of Italy’s last overall win, Vincenzo Nibali in 2014. A dramatically hard opening stage is suited to the punchy talent of Giulio Ciccone; however, with three second category climbs, who would bet against Tadej Pogacar trying to gain an early advantage?
📈 7 ascensions au programme aujourd’hui, pour 3 600m de D+ 🥵
— Maillot à Pois E.Leclerc (@maillotapois) June 29, 2024
🧮 Un maximum de 23 points à prendre aujourd’hui. Qui voyez-vous endosser le maillot à pois ce soir ? ⚪️🔴#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/R1mYsUzf2G
Updated
Preamble
We are soon to be away in Firenze, and we’ve been loading up on previews all week.
Where else to start than Cav?
This weekend will see a true great, for all his flaws, remembered.
The contenders to be in the yellow jersey in Paris.
Here’s your team-by-team guide.
And, of course, stage by stage.
