ProTeam Maxim Van Gils strong on opening stage of Tour de France

The Grand Départ was held in Florence, whereafter the riders had to tackle 7 climbs to Rimini, in more than 30 degrees. Nine riders made it into the breakaway of the day. In the bunch the pace went up, making the sprinters and a lot of other riders dropping from the peloton. Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) made the jump to the front, with the help of his teammate Frank van den Broek, who was in the breakaway. The two eventually stayed in the front alone. 

With 10 kilometers to go, the peloton saw their advantage going to under 50 seconds. The bunch just came too late. Bardet took the first yellow jersey with his stage win. Maxim Van Gils sprinted to a fifth spot. 

“I had good legs today. It’s just a bit sad I couldn’t sprint for the win. It was very warm the first three hours, with the heat it was a tough day. From 90 kilometers from the finish line, I was up there with Victor (Campenaerts). He was really good. On top of the San Marino I thought we would still take the two leaders, I was actually ready for the sprint, but that’s racing. At the start and finish there were a lot of fans, but there was a relaxed atmosphere, so it was nice. Tomorrow is more punchy, I hope to have good legs.”

Picture: PhotoNews