Jasper Philipsen won Saturday’s opening stage of the Tour de France. With the help of Mathieu van der Poel, the Belgian was the strongest in the sprint of a group of about thirty riders.
The 185-kilometer stage from and to Lille led to quite a bit of nervousness in the peloton. Filippo Ganna, Thibau Nys, and Stefan Bissegger crashed early on. Two-time time trial world champion Ganna was the first to abandon the race, and Bissegger quit shortly afterward.
A sprint for a point in the mountain classification halfway through the stage resulted in a remarkable crash involving the French escapees Benjamin Thomas and Mattéo Vercher. Thomas wanted to pass his compatriot with a jump, but lost control of his bike and took Vercher down with him.
The French duo was able to continue, but were immediately caught by the peloton. It remained complete for a while until a split occurred 16 kilometers from the finish due to echelons.
A group of about thirty riders created a gap of half a minute. Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Mathieu van der Poel were alert, but Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic missed the move.
The second group did not return, and the leading group, in which Marijn van den Berg crashed in the finale, was allowed to sprint for the stage victory in the streets of Lille. Philipsen was the strongest in that sprint.