Kristoff takes fourth and Martin finishes safe as UAE Team Emirates impress on opening stage of Tour de France

UAE Team Emirates’ produced an impressive team performance on the opening stage of the Tour de France, with reigning European Champion and sprint specialist, Alexander Kristoff battling with fellow sprinters to finish an impressive fourth. The Norwegian held his nerve in the final kilometres to take home the top five finish, and will be hoping for similar results over the coming weeks as he contends to be one of the top sprinters on the tour.

The opening stage was won by Colombian, Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors), who will take the coveted yellow jersey into tomorrow’s Stage two. 
 
Commenting following the race; Kristoff said “It was quote chaotic but I got good help from my team mates and had a good position. I couldn’t manage to pass Sagan or Gaviria but I manged to get fourth – I was hoping for a podium and I was close, but Gaviria, Sagan and Kittel were better than me today. I will try again in the next stages and hopefully can improve on my fourth place.”

Meanwhile, UAE Team Emirates’ Dan Martin managed to avoid a late crash and finish with the main group who are contending for the General Classification (GC). The Irishman, who leads UAE Team Emirates’ GC charge commented: “Today was a chaotic final were everybody was fresh and wanted to stay in front. I avoided the crash and that was really important. As I said in the past few days, I have a lot of confidence in the team, and in stages like today teammates are really important.”

Tomorrow’s Stage two will see the peloton tackle another relatively flat course, with the only climb of the day being the category four côte de Pouzauges, coming at 28km – which could be the ideal opportunity for a breakaway to form. The finale to the stage will come as the group prepare for another bunched sprint finish into the regions capital, La Roche-sur-Yon.

Stage 1 Results
1. Fernando Gaviria (Col) – Quick-Step Floors 4:23:32
2. Peter Sagan (Slo) – Bora Hansgrohe s.t.
3. Marcel Kittle (Ger) – Team Katusha Alpacen s.t.
4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) – UAE Team Emirates s.t.

General Classification Standings
1. Fernando Gaviria (Col) – Quick-Step Floors 4:23:22
2. Peter Sagan (Slo) – Bora Hansgrohe +00:04
3. Marcel Kittel (Ger) – Team Katusha Alpacen +00:06
4. Oliver Naesen (Bel) – AG2R La Mondiale +00:09
5. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) – UAE Team Emirates +00:10