BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS (Photo by JASPER JACOBS/Belga/Sipa USA)
RIMINI (ITALPRESS) – Romain Bardet is the first yellow jersey of the Tour de France number 111, which started from Italy for the first time in its history. The Frenchman from dsm-firmenich PostNL won in Rimini, preceding his teammate Frank van den Broek in a two-man finish. For Bardet, this is the fourth stage of the Tour won in his career, after those in 2015, 2016, 2017. “My partner and I went fast, we did an exceptional job – said Bardet -. It was a crazy stage, very fast, wind in your face and intense heat. I never imagined I would win, I have no words left.” It was the Dutchman who let him pass near the finish line while the group behind was catching up with the escapees. The 206 kilometers of the stage proved to be very challenging with 3600 meters of altitude difference. However, all this did not scare Bardet who, with commitment and a constant pace, managed in the end to defend the advantage he had accumulated and avoid the comeback of the group who, a few hundred meters away, seemed to be able to catch up. Fourth Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), seventh Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), eighth Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step). Of note is the tenth place of the Italian Alberto Bettiol (Ef Educazione – Easypost), while another Italian, Michele Gazzoli (Astana Qazaqstan Team), was the first to retire. Alongside Mark Cavendish on a difficult day, the Italian runner bids farewell to the Grande Boucle with 90 kilometers to go after a day of great effort. The second stage is scheduled for tomorrow which will see the cyclists start from Cesenatico (in memory of Marco Pantani) to reach Bologna via a hilly route of 199.2 kilometers with a difference in altitude of 1850 metres.
– Photo: Ipa Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
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