Tour de France 2021: Julian Alaphilippe yellow jersey after winning the first stage

Published on : 06/26/2021 – 5:13 PMModified : 06/26/2021 – 5:39 PM

He will have to exchange his rainbow tunic of world champion for the yellow jersey of the leader of the general classification. “There are worse,” smiled Julian Alaphilippe, Saturday, June 26, at the finish of the first stage of the Tour de France 2021 which he won at Landerneau.

In a side finish cut for his puncher qualities, the Frenchman broke away in the first hectometers to win at the top of the Fosse-aux-Loups hill, ahead of Michael Matthews and Primoz Roglic

He is the first French since Christophe Moreau, in 2001, to don the yellow jersey at the end of the first stage of the Grande Boucle. Julian Alaphilippe, 29, a father for a few days, has removed his sixth stage of the Tour de France since 2018.

“I was keen to succeed, but from there to do it!” Exclaimed the French, who went on the attack 2300 meters from the line.

“In the final, I was caught in a fall but we were able to return without getting excited. We had to finish the work on the last climb. I gave my maximum without asking myself any questions,” added Alaphilippe. “I’m so happy. It’s really good to give emotions to those who follow, it’s a special victory for me.”

The stage marked by two big falls

Two big falls occurred in this opening stage. The second, less than 8 kilometers from the finish, concerned in particular the Briton Chris Froome, quadruple winner of the event, who was however able to get back on the bike after several minutes.

For its first of four days of racing in Brittany, the Tour found its public, who came in large numbers to the roadsides. And also, on the other hand, an additional share of risk since a spectator holding a sign encroaching on the roadway caused a maxi-fall 45 kilometers from the finish.

The German Tony Martin, the first to fall, brought in his fall other runners, like dominoes, on the narrow roadway and the side aisles. Among others, several of his teammates from the Jumbo formation, including the Slovenian Primoz Roglic (2nd in the 2020 Tour) is the leader.

Belgian champion Wout van Aert was then able to enter the peloton, as were Italian champion Sonny Colbrelli and Colombian climber Miguel Angel Lopez.

In this stage of nearly 200 kilometers, the peloton left less than four minutes for the breakaway made up of Bonnamour, Pérez, Rodriguez, Schelling, Swift and van Poppel.

Ide Schelling, a 23-year-old Dutch Tour neophyte, then broke free in one of the six climbs of the day, 83 kilometers from the finish. He embarked on a solitary raid which ended at the entrance of the last 30 kilometers and won the polka dot jersey for best climber.

On Sunday, the second stage also ends uphill, in Mûr-de-Bretagne, after 183.5 kilometers. Another finish tailored for Julian Alaphilippe …

With AFP