Key events
128km to go: Izagirre takes first place in the latest mini-sprint for the mountain points, with Abrahamsen second. Will get the full result when I have it, but the Cofidis rider is making a play for the jersey after day one.
130km to go: We’re on to a short, 2.2km, category three climb. More pain for Cav when he reaches it, he’ll be battling to make the cut off.
132km to go: The race has whipped down the descent, at the front of the break Ryan Gibbons averaged 23.8km on the way down. The peloton has made up som ground and is now less than four minutes behind the ‘tête de la course’.
David Kemp has another name he likes for today’s stage win:
My 10p is on Alberto Bettiol. Resplendent in his new Italian champion’s jersey, on home roads a victory for the Tuscan would drive the Tifosi to a frenzy.
That it would, David. Italy’s is one of my favourite national champion jerseys in cycling, I usually quite like the Norwegian and the British efforts too.
148km to go: The peloton has brought the gap down now to the break back under five minutes on this descent.
155km to go: Izagirre shows his class by taking an early lead in the mountains classification, Madouas is second, ahead of Abrahamsen and Van Den Broek.
157km to go: Cavendish probably couldn’t have imagined a tougher first stage than three category two climbs. He’s got less than a kilometre to the top of the first of them but the front of the peloton is picking up the pace at just wrong the time and is almost a minute ahead now.
158km to go: There is a bit of concern for Mark Cavendish who is falling behind the peloton. He’s about 15 seconds off the back and his teammates are pouring water over him in an apparent bid to cool him down. Come on Cav, get to stage just three and your chance is there.
160km to go: The lead back to the peloton is now 5mins30secs, a sizeable gap. “Free time,” says Miller on comms. I often feel like it’s the job of the commentator to talk up the breakaway but with the likes of Izagirre in there it’s worth tracking how much time those riders are afforded.
164km to go: TotalEnergies’ Vercher has fallen out of the back of the break and is drifting back towards the peloton, so two in and one out in the lead group.
It sounds like summer has started for William Preston, who emails in:
So begins the best period of each, and every, year. It’s a properly special one, too. We’ve got properly good GC contenders looking to get a stomp on from the get go on this massively tough opening stage, and the world must be willing Cavendish to get another victory.
It would be churlish to consider that other sprinters might realise that allowing him to have it early on, in the hope he’ll then retire from the Tour after that stage win to live, and rightly so, off tales of his thrilling heroics. That would allow them to sort out the rest of the race themselves.
Anyhow, here’s to a cracking three weeks, and have a lovely weekend.
165km to go: Abrahamsen’s effort is rewarded, he’s dragged Gibbons with him and Uno-X now have their treasured spot in the breakaway. The leaders have about 7.3km to go until they reach the summit and can battle it out for the first mountain points.
166km to go: The leaders have about three minutes on the peloton, so it looks unlikely we’ll see an early charge from the favourites just yet. All could change on the lumps and bumps of course.
168km to go: The breakaway group is officially on the climb, the two in pursuit are plugging away and now just 40 seconds behind.
171km to go: Uno-X Mobility and Lidl-Trek have sent a couple of ‘poursuiavnts’ up the road to bridge the gap to the breakaway. Jonas Abrahamsen has cut the gap to under a minute, Ryan Gibbons of Lidl-Trek is just sitting on the Uno-X man’s wheel.
Richard Cutler emails in with a prediction:
Really, I’ve no idea, but someone in my Velogames group reckons Mathieu van der Poel will do it today, and maybe hold on to yellow for a week. Me, I’ve got 10p on Giulio Ciccone at 35/1, for no reason other than I read somewhere that someone reckoned he’d win today.
As I say, I’ve no idea, but I’ll buy myself a large 99 flake later if it comes in!
William Fotheringham tipped Ciccone in his preview, so not a terrible shout. Not getting much change on a large 99 with a flake from those returns these days.
188km to go: We have a breakaway, at last. Sandy Dujardin, Mateo Vercher (TotalEnergies), Frank Van Den Broek (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Clement Champoussin (Arkea-B&B), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), and Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious). Uno-X Mobility have missed this and are desperately chasing but to little avail so far.
192km to go: We have another group try to go away, Warren Barguil and Simon Geschke have been busy in the early stages but they are surely way too talented to be allowed in the breakaway.
194km to go: Still no break and David Miller reckons it won’t happen now until we hit the first climb at around 176km to go when the peloton ascends Col de Valico tre Faggi.
201km to go: A large group has formed at the front but that looks way too big to be allowed to go away.
205km to go: And we’re off, the flag has dropped and Tour de France 2024 is underway proper.
Please hit me with your predictions via email. For what it’s worth, I’m backing Tom Pidcock to cause a suprise today. Coming in off a good week on the mountain bike, a punchy stage with a couple of category two climbs.
Close to kilometre zero now, who will look to punch away early doors?
The Tour de France but make it Italy. Florence, setting off from Piazza della Signoria, riders rolling across Le Ponte Vecchio, they’ve done the full Italian job on this. The riders are still on the rollout and have about 8km to the flag drop.
Here’s a look at today’s stage, Saturday 29 June: Florence to Rimini, 206km, with William Fotheringham’s preview.
A first Grand Départ in Italy, ironically when cycling talent in this traditional heartland is vanishingly scarce. There will be barely any Italians on the start list and there is zero prospect of a repeat of Italy’s last overall win, Vincenzo Nibali in 2014. A dramatically hard opening stage is suited to the punchy talent of Giulio Ciccone; however, with three second category climbs, who would bet against Tadej Pogacar trying to gain an early advantage?
📈 7 ascensions au programme aujourd’hui, pour 3 600m de D+ 🥵
🧮 Un maximum de 23 points à prendre aujourd’hui. Qui voyez-vous endosser le maillot à pois ce soir ? ⚪️🔴#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/R1mYsUzf2G
— Maillot à Pois E.Leclerc (@maillotapois) June 29, 2024
Preamble
We are soon to be away in Firenze, and we’ve been loading up on previews all week.
Where else to start than Cav?
This weekend will see a true great, for all his flaws, remembered.
The contenders to be in the yellow jersey in Paris.
Here’s your team-by-team guide.
And, of course, stage by stage.
