Julian ALAPHILIPPE. 10th lode. In the Fossa dei wolves (the Côte de la Fosse aux Loups), a wolf cub who is also a tiger lion and a jaguar can only win. “LouLou” or the musketeer or d’Artagnan, you do a little, call him what you want because he does what he wants, supported by a very pure class, wrapped in a jersey (the world champion one) that no one can wear better than him, and wears that yellow jersey that most belongs to him. Dad Julian dedicates victory and jersey to his baby, Nino. Italian name for a French rider who loves us: I have always loved him.
Michael MATTHEWS. 8. Today he does the maximum, if LouLou were not there he would take home the full loot. You have to be satisfied, but there is also tomorrow.
Primoz ROGLIC. 8. The Slovenian tries to hurt Taddeo Pogacar immediately, but the child responds on his own. The challenge has begun.
Jack HAIG. 7,5. The Australian from Bahrain remains in the fray with great clarity.
Wilko KELDERMAN. 7. The Dutch of the Bora is there, and in the end you see it.
Tadej POGACAR. 7.5. The Slovenian boy takes a hit and finishes sixth, in the wake of fellow countryman Jumbo. Mission accomplished.
David GAUDU. 6.5. The Breton tries, until the end, but in front of his audience six come before him.
Geraint THOMAS. 7. Stay there, with the best, and that’s already a lot for today.
Vincenzo NIBALI. 7. It is a clear and unequivocal sign: in this explosive finish the Shark remains with the best (the first group is made up of 21 runners, he finishes 18th). CT Cassani will have clearly taken note. I forgot: first of the Italians.
Richard CARAPAZ. 6. Loses a handful of seconds: there is.
Mathieu VAN DER POEL. 4. He was the big favorite of the day. A man alone announced and praised, told and celebrated and for this they make him the party. He doesn’t enjoy himself one bit. Tomorrow there is the Wall of Brittany, but he – the Wall – takes it today.
Sonny COLBRELLI. 5,5. They bring him well there in the shooting area (crazy job of Mohoric 8), but then this arrival for the new tricolor never ends and in the end he gets up again, not to finish. Tomorrow there is the Mur de Bretagne.
Miguel ANGEL LOPEZ. 5. Ready, go and cue: it loses almost 2 minutes. Probably the blows remedied in the fall have affected him not a little.
Tony MARTIN. 2. He hits the spot with a garrulous lady showing a huge sign in favor of the camera, causing a wild bunch. The 2nd is clearly for the lady, for whom I invoke the intervention of both Gibo Simoni and Enzo Cainero. Other than the villain of the Zoncolan.
Ide SCHELLING. 7. The German from Bora-Hansgrohe – the first to cross the Côte de Stang ar Garront – takes and goes. He tries to go it alone, when he realizes that the escape is close to being undone. He tries to move the yield further, but in the meantime he gets on the podium to receive and wear the first “polka dot” jersey of this Tour.
Danny VAN POPPEL. 6. The 27-year-old Dutchman of Intermarché Wanty Gobert, finds the escape of the day with Cristian Rodriguez (Team Total Energie), Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels KTM), Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Anthony Perez (Cofidis). Good action, but kept under control by a couple of riders in the group. In short, there are escapes and escapes of the day: this is a fughetta.
Tim DECLERQUE. 7.5. BigTim, the 32-year-old from Leuven (where the world road championships will be held this year), after twenty kilometers takes the lead and begins to be the “regulator”. Keeps the pace high to keep an eye on the day’s escape. It’s like an autopilot: you call him and he arrives. You set it on 42 km / h and he goes. Better than “roomba”.
Daniel OSS. 7. A runner with a mustache has always been one, now he really is, given that the Trentino rider came to France with brand new “mustaches” by order. The 7, for the moment, is for the mustache. Looking forward to a tour with all the trimmings.
JASHA SUTTERLIN. 17. The 28-year-old German of the DSM Team is the first retired of this Tour de France. It is the one that pays the most serious consequences from the mass fall. After the second fall, Konovalovas from Groupama and Lemoine from B&B Hotels also stop.
BRITAIN. 10. “Gwenn ha du”, bianconero in Breton, where the Tour starts, restarts and will remain there for four stages. Seven Breton “brezhoneg” runners, with David Gaudu leading the Bianconeri’s patrol. Brittany, land of cycling and cyclists, land of Petit-Breton and Jean Robic, Louison Bobet and Bernard Hinault. Land of cyclists, with 200 companies and more than ten thousand members and 1300 organized races a year. From here the Tour starts and, as the “badger” said, the last Frenchman to give the Tour to France 36 years ago, “this race is as if it had come home”.
Gabriele MISSAGLIA 1. He is alone. It is the only one representative of the flagship “benches”, the only Italian sporting director in this Grande Boucle. Missaglia will drive the Qhubeka Nexthash with Lars Michaelsen. One can only wish him well. As the French say: bonne route!
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