Romain Bardet won the first stage of the 2024 edition, held in the seaside resort of Rimini, after a thrilling battle, to wear the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.
Romain Bardet, great first. Greatly helped by his teammate Frank Van den Broek, the Auvergne won the first stage of the Tour de France in Rimini (Italy) and thus adorned himself with the yellow jersey, for the first time in his career. Income at the height of the race leader and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), the day’s main entertainer, the 33-year-old French climber put on a great performance at the front during the last fifty kilometres, which were initially exciting before becoming unbearable.
There, in the Côtes de Montemaggio then San Marino, Bardet went higher, faster than the others, and he did not miss his paradise, in Rimini, where his collaboration with his Dutch teammate was validated on the finish line. Great lord, Bardet took the time to warmly thank the other hero of the day, legitimate winner of the combativeness prize, while the peloton had never been so close, in the last hectometers of the finish.
“It was a dream to wear the yellow jersey”
Because at the end of the latter, the Auvergnat won the right to wear the yellow jersey for the first time in his career. An incongruity in his record, he who has climbed on the box twice (2nd in 2016 and 2017). He will wear it from Sunday on the Italian roads, roads that he adores, he who has always spoken fondly of the Giro d’Italia, of which he was deprived for a long time in his years at AG2R-La Mondiale, his historic formation before moving to the Dutch DSM.
«It was a dream to wear the yellow jersey, I had mourned it a little but now it’s a consecrationthe person concerned was moved at the microphone of France Televisions. It was an inaccessible object, an extraordinary tunic that crowns my journey on the Tour“An anomaly repaired on the gong, while the person concerned knew that he was starting his last Tour de France this Saturday, he who recently announced that he would end his career next year, at the end not of the Grande Boucle but of the Critérium du Dauphiné, his heartfelt event.
When I came to the Tour, the pressure of the general and the expectations, it ate me
Romain Bardet, on the microphone of France Télévisions
A popular rider but often in the shadow of Voeckler, Pinot and other Alaphilippes, Bardet offers himself a final consecration worthy of his talent (fourth victory on the Tour), him, the general classification rider, often in the calculation and too rarely rewarded, as during the Giro 2022, where he had to abandon his great ambitions due to illness.
Also read: Romain Bardet and the Tour de France: a love story in seven acts
«When I came to the Tour, it was a tunnel. I had the pressure of the general classification and expectations, it ate away at me for a long time. 33 years old, it’s never too late to force destiny. The goal was the polka dot jersey, that’s why I wanted to be in front at the start“, confided the star of the day, doubly satisfied after having won while practicing “the bike (that he) loves”.
Gaudu and Martinez unhooked, the sky is not only blue
A bike of attack and panache, long the prerogative of the former French champion Valentin Madouas, dispossessed of his title in Normandy last week, and long at the front this Saturday. At his side, the Norwegian Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) fought a great battle for the mountain bonuses and points, to the advantage of the first city, first polka dot jersey of this Tour 2024.
An edition that began in the hell and darkness of the back of the race for Mark Cavendish, victim of the harshness of the stage (206 km and 3,600 meters of positive elevation gain) earlier than the others. Escorted by his close guard from Astana, the “Missile of Man” finally came back on time, at the end of his tether and 39 minutes after Bardet.
Difficulties also experienced by David Gaudu, who quickly passed into the anonymity of the “Gruppetto” alongside his young partner Lenny Martinez, surprise guest from the Groupama-FDJ team in questionable form. The general classification forgotten, as announced before the event, Gaudu and his team will now hunt the stages. Certainly inspired by Romain Bardet.
