Bardet wins the first stage and takes on the yellow jersey in his last Tour de France

Euskaraz irakurri: Bardetek irabazi du Frantziako Tourreko lehen stage, eta hark jantzi du jersey horia

Romain Bardet (DSM) has won the first stage of the 2024 Tour de France and, after having announced that it would be his last participation in the French round, he has dressed for the first time in the yellow jersey.

The French rider has completed a brilliant escape in which he received decisive help from his Dutch teammate Frank van den Broeksurvivor of the escape of a mid-mountain stage that was held between the Italian towns of Florence and Rimini (206 km).

The two DSM cyclists have managed to keep their distance from the favourites, who only tried to stop their adventure in the final stretch, but they did not calculate well and the escapees crossed the finish line with 5 seconds advantage over the peloton led by the Belgian Wout van Aert (Visma) and Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE). Alex Aranburu (Movistar) was sixth and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain) ninth.

Bardet was thrilled at the finish line to fulfil a long-held dream. No Frenchman had worn yellow since Julian Alaphilippe in 2021.

“It’s amazing, a dream, something fabulous. And I won alongside my teammate Van der Broeck. I’m speechless, it’s something I’ve been chasing since I started cycling,” he said at the finish line.

Ion Izagirre He has been one of the protagonists of the day, as he has managed to finish in first place the first two climbs of this edition of the Tour with the aim of donning the mountain leader’s jersey. However, the idea of ​​​​him has faded after suffering a fall on the descent and falling behind.