Mike Teunissen edged a thrilling bunch sprint to claim a surprise win in the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday after a big crash caused mayhem near the end.
The Jumbo-Visma rider was not expected to be fighting for the win but he held off Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) to take the stage by the narrowest of margins.
Defending champion Geraint Thomas was involved in a mass pile-up near the finish that also held up his Ineos joint-leader Egan Bernal but both finished safely.
That crash also took down Teunissen’s team-mate Dylan Groenewegen, one of the pre-stage favourites, but his lead-out man Teunissen took matters into his own hands to claim the first yellow jersey of the race.
“This is truly bizarre. Unreal”, Teunissen said. “It’s all very special. We worked hard for months to do a sprint with Dylan here. After his crash, we switched plans very quickly. The riders in front of me were struggling to keep their pace and I could only just outsprint Sagan. The fact that I win a stage by beating these guys in the Tour is amazing. This is what you dream of as a little boy. Now it has happened, it has become reality … I can’t find the words for it.”
Manager Richard Plugg concurred with Teunissen. “For the first time in history we have the yellow jersey in the team and it’s the first Dutch yellow jersey in thirty years: that is really fantastic. It is an incredible season for us.”
German powerhouse Marcus Burghardt ramped up the pace at the finish for Peter Sagan who, in third wheel in the uphill drag to the finish, kicked late, holding his rivals at bay to the last centimeters. The Slovak rider was cruelly denied the win by a tire’s width, but even second position showed that he was in good form for the coming three weeks of racing.
“As always, the first stage of the Tour de France is hectic,” said Sagan at the finish. “There was an early break of four riders and our guys worked to keep them under control. In a critical point a few km before the intermediate sprint, BORA-hansgrohe put the hammer down as we entered the pavé section, split the peloton and caught the break, giving me the opportunity to take the full 20 points there. We then kept a strong pace with the final kilometers being nervous with some crashes in the group. I was well positioned for the bunch sprint and in good form. It was a bit unusual as it seemed 300m to the finish everybody was stopped. I accelerated, gave my best but was edged out in a photo finish, by a few centimeters. That’s part of the race and the sprints, you can win or lose by a very small margin. The Tour de France has just started, we have three long weeks ahead of us and we will fight in every stage.” – Peter Sagan
The Tour continues on Sunday with the 27.6km team time trial around Brussels and concludes in Paris on July 28.
2019 Tour de France Stage 1 Brief Results:
- Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) at 4h 22′ 47″ B : 10”
- Peter Sagan (BORA-hansgrohe) s.t. B : 6″
- Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) s.t. B : 4″
- Giacomo Nizzolo (Team Dimension Data) s.t.
- Sonny Colbrelli (Team Bahrain – Merida) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 1:
- Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) at 4h 22′ 37″
- Peter Sagan (BORA-hansgrohe) at 4″
- Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) at 6″
- Giacomo Nizzolo (Team Dimension Data) at 10″
- Sonny Colbrelli (Team Bahrain – Merida) s.t.
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