Romain Bardet wears the first yellow jersey of his long career and is the first yellow jersey of the 2024 Tour de France. The Frenchman, 33, arrives at the finish line in Rimini with his teammate, the Dutchman Frank van den Broek. The group was unable to catch up with the two escapees, and was regulated in the sprint by Wout van Aert, arriving just 5” behind. The Belgian beat the Slovenian Tadej Pogačar, winner of the Giro d’Italia and big favorite for the final victory. Tenth was the first of the Italians, Alberto Bettiol.
In the general classification, Bardet obviously leads (by virtue of the time bonuses) with 4” on van den Broek, 11” on van Aert and 15” on the others.
The first fraction was characterized by a wavy profile, with three second category grand prix and four third category grand prix, but with a flat finish, after the last climb, San Marino (648 meters) 26 km from the finish line. The hero of the day was van den Broek, in the breakaway from the start with other riders. The Dutchman then waited for his teammate and led him to the finish line, resisting the group’s attempt to recover, which perhaps moved a little too late.
Bardet’s satisfaction was great: the Frenchman had never worn the yellow jersey during his career and he succeeded in the first stage of what will be his last participation. Thanks to the help of his teammate, he managed to complete the feat.
Il Great departure The Italian version of the French race offers three and a half stages. The second stage starts from Cesenatico and arrives in Bologna for 198.7 km, the third is the Piacenza-Turin of 230.8 km, followed by the Pinerolo-Valloire, of 139.6 km, starting in Italy and arriving in the French department of Savoy.
