LANDERNEAU, France (Dispatches) — The mass return of Tour de France fans coincided with chaos and crashes while world champion Julian Alaphilippe avoided most of the carnage to win the opening stage with a punchy attack.
The Frenchman was involved in the first pileup caused by a fan that took down a large part of the peloton but he remained on his bike. He surged ahead of the main pack in the final steep climb leading to the finish in Landerneau, crossing the line with an eight-second lead over Michael Matthews. Last year’s runner-up, Primoz Roglic, took third.
With France coming to life again and nearly all coronavirus restrictions lifted, the Tour got underway from the western port city of Brest in a festive atmosphere, returning to its traditional slot in the calendar after last year’s edition was pushed back to September because of the pandemic.
Throughout the day, enthusiastic fans took to the streets of picturesque villages and thousands of them lined the verdant roads of the Brittany countryside. But some were also careless.
The first big spill was caused by a fan who brandished a cardboard sign and leaned into the path of veteran rider Tony Martin, who fell off his bike and took many others down in his slipstream. The Tour cautioned fans to “respect the safety of the riders” and “Don’t risk everything for a photo or to get on television!”
The second pileup involved dozens of competitors – including four-time Tour champion Chris Froome – riding at full speed near the finish.