Tour de France verdict: Questions asked of officials after multiple crashes on 'ice rink'...

[ASFN Admin]

Never mind the threat to the race from a resurgent coronavirus, the 107th Tour de France experienced the most chaotic, nervous of opening stages on Saturday, heavy rain turning the roads of the Cote d’Azur into an “ice rink”. The ensuing crash-fest caught out a number of big-name riders, including French favourite Thibaut Pinot [Groupama-FDJ], before Norway’s Alexander Kristoff [UAE Team Emirates] romped to victory on the Promenade des Anglais. It was a thriller, although there were questions as to whether the race commissaires ought to have intervened as the crashes piled up. Ineos’ Pavel Sivakov hit the deck more than once and ended up losing 13 minutes. Some people thought the Russian might be a dark horse for yellow. Not any more. Tour de France 2020 — stage one: Full results and details In the end, riders took matters into their own hands, calling a temporary truce on the descent off the Côte de Rimiez with around 58km of the stage remaining. Big Tony Martin [Jumbo-Visma] spread his long arms out on the front, warning the peloton not to pass him. Astana ignored the warning and promptly paid the price, general classification contender Miguel Angel Lopez losing control on a corner and locking up under braking, slamming into what looked like a lamp post. Incredibly, the Colombian managed to remain upright throughout. Moments after the incident, pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic [Jumbo-Visma] approached Lopez's team-mate Omar Fraile, who was leading a posse of Astana riders down too quickly, causing their leader to crash and clearly told him to "calm down". Even descending gingerly, though, it was treacherous going. George Bennett [Lotto-Jumbo], one of Roglic’s key mountain helpers, hit the deck hard and had to chase back on. The biggest scare of all came right under the 3km to go banner - the checkpoint after which all riders are given the same time once they cross the finish line. A big crash caught out Pinot, amongst others, and the race held its breath to see whether the darling of the French cycling fraternity would get back up. He did, but looked battered and bruised. At least he was given the same time as his GC rivals. Had they docked him, there would have been mutiny on the streets of Nice.

Continue reading...