DSM Breakaway Succeeds on Stage 1 Tour de France 2024

Stage 1 of the 2024 Tour de France was a long, hard, Classics-style stage.

There was an exciting finish as DSM’s Frank Van den Broek and Romain Bardet fought to stay ahead on the flat run-in, with the peloton looming behind.

Van den Broek in particular was very strong in what became effectively a two-man time trial, and did enough to see his team leader home in first place. Bardet takes the first yellow jersey of the 2024 Tour.

Wout van Aert was fastest in the sprint from the peloton, coming third, with Pogacar fourth.

Video Highlights

The Day’s Breakaway

The early break included Ion Izagirre, Valentin Madouas, Matej Mohoric, Clément Champoussin and Frank Van den Broek. Jonas Abrahamsen and Ryan Gibbons joined them.

Sandy Dujardin was also in the breakaway, and he took maximum points at the intermediate sprint.

As the breakaway’s lead narrowed, Romain Bardet attacked from the peloton on the Cote de San Leo. He joined his DSM teammate Van den Broek at the head of the race. They soon dispensed with Madouas, and made it a DSM twosome up front.

Cavendish’s Travails

Mark Cavendish was dropped on the first climb, apparently affected by the heat.

His team dropped back with him, and they rode a steady pace with the objective of making it to the finish line inside the time cut. They made it with 9min45 to spare.

Astana’s Michele Gazzoli abandoned the stage and is out of the Tour.