Pogačar to the fore as Tour de France begins in Italy

Tadej Pogačar was 4th at the end of the 206 km from Firenze to Rimini, preceded by Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the sprint of the group that reached the arrival 5″ after that the duo of Bardet-Van den Broek from dsm-Firmenich crossed the finish line. The French rider obtained his 4th win at the Grande Boucles in career thanks to an attack on the Barbotto climb (5,9 km at 7,6%, summit at more than 60 km to the arrival.

UAE Team Emirates managed to arrive relatively stress free to Rimini on a day where many sufferend in the scorching temperatures.

Pogačar: “First day was super good, I tested the legs a little bit on the climbs with quite a good pace and they were ok, even with the heat.

In the end I tried to sprint also, I saw a opening and I almost beat two of the fastest guys in this race, Pedersen and Van Aert, but I was not lucky in the final: chapeau to the winner! Bardet and Van den Broek went with a very good pace and they deserved the victory.”

Stage 2 will start from Cesenatico and will end in Bologna, 199 km with two passages on the San Luca hill.

Stage 1 results

1. Romain Bardet (dsm-Firmenich) 5h07’22”
2. Frank Van den Broek (dsm-Firmenich) s.t.
3. Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) +5″
4. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.

General classification after stage 1

1. Romain Bardet (dsm-Firmenich) 5h07’12”
2. Frank Van den Broek (dsm-Firmenich) +4″
3. Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) +11″
4. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) +15″