Peter Sagan of Liquigas, riding in his first Tour de France, won the first stage by clinging to RadioShack’s veteran powerhouse Fabian Cancellara who attacked in the final 1500 meters of the 198-km stage.
The RadioShack rider made a move halfway up the hilltop finish, and 22-year-old Slovakian champion Sagan followed, then passed in the final fifty meters to take the win.
Sagan won five of eight stages in the Tour de California and four stages on the Tour de Suisse earlier this season, and wasted no time opening his Tour de France account.
“I knew it was one of the best chances I'd get,” Sagan said on the Liquigas website. “I didn’t have the best feeling at the start and it was only as the race progressed that I started to feel better and think I might have a chance of trying to win.
“First I thought about going on my own on the decisive final climb then decided to mark Cancellara. DS Zanatta and Scirea [Liquigas Directeurs Sportifs] had advised me in the meeting this morning not to lose his wheel as he would probably attack.
Sagan is no stranger to the top of the podium, but he realized that this win was special.
“Today’s win was a difficult one and it made me understand what’s so special about the Tour compared with other races: so many people at the side of the road cheering you on, journalists from all over the world looking at you, a very high tempo race and you mustn’t ever lose your concentration … well, you can tell straightway that it’s different.
“Now I mustn’t get carried away with all the excitement. I’ve always planned to race this Tour one day at a time and that’s what I'll do until we get to Paris. The green jersey? It’s a dream; let’s see if I can make it come true. ”
Sky’s Edvald Boasson-Hagen, contesting the Best Young Rider classification with Sagan, bridged to the leading pair and finished third. BMC’s Philippe Gilbert, who won 24 races last year, made a late attack on the uphill finish but only managed fourth.
Cancellara keeps the yellow Jersey and even gained a few second. Likely he will hold the General Classification lead until the first mountains in Stage Seven.
Smart, Powerful Finish
Stage One, Liège to Seraing, was listed as a flat stage but in fact contained five Cat 4 climbs, including the final 2.4 km which started at six percent and dropped off to three percent in the final 1500 meters. This gave the stage to the power riders instead of the pure sprinters, and few riders can power up a climb like Spartacus, Fabian Cancellara.
The RadioShack rider, who took the race-leader’s yellow jersey with a great performance in the Prologue—his fifth Tour de France Prologue win—made his move in the middle of the steep. Thinking strategically, he waited until a couple of riders attacked and the peloton spent some energy catching them. Then Cancellara went, with Sagan right on his wheel.
No one could respond immediately, though Sky’s Boasson-Hagen set before the gap got too big. Cancellara wanted Sagan to work together—as a pair they could have opened a much bigger gap, protecting the RadioShack rider’s lead. Instead, Sagan hung back; he wanted the stage win.
Boasson-Hagen caught the leading pair and the trio passed the 500-meter watching each other. The peloton swiftly closed in while none of the three leaders wanted to be first to commit. Finally 200 meters out, Cancellara opened up the sprint; he sacrificed the stage win to keep the yellow jersey.
Peter Sagan passed Cancellara easily fifty meters out, and had time to sit up and celebrate as he crossed the line. This young rider has announced his presence in a very big way; he might not be able to sprint with Matt Goss or Mark Cavendish, but as a power rider Sagan is the complete package—and not yet 23 years old.
Six riders attacked at the start: Yohann Gène (Europcar,) Pablo Urtasun (Euskatel-Euskadi,) Maxime Bouet (Ag2r-La Mondiale,) Nicolas Edet (Cofidis,) Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun,) and Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank.) This group stayed away for 190 kilometers. Maxime Bouet lasted longest, but the catch was inevitable.
After the catch Lotto took over driving, then BMC briefly, then GreenEdge, which led the peloton into the climb. Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s Sylvain Chavanel attacked with 1.9 km to go, with a GreenEdge rider on his wheel. This pair was caught within a few hundred meters, leading to Cancellara’s attack.
Next Up: The Sprinters (and Maybe Sagan Again)
Stage Two, 207.5 km from Visé to Tournai will be a sprinters’ stage—not a serious climb to be seen. Finally the world will get to see how Mark Cavendish rides with his new Sky leadout train, against the best in the world for the highest stakes.
Can Cavendish add to his 20 Tour de France stage wins? If not, who will challenge him—Lotto’s André Greipel, GreenEdge’s Matt Goss? Maybe Cav’s old leadout man, Mark Renshaw of Rabobank. Another big question is, can Peter Sagan sprint with the real sprinters?
Can Liquigas put together a leadout for their young phenom, and can Sagan take advantage? He has been an excellent wheel-hopper and his tremendous acceleration has won him stage after stage, but how will he fare against the best of the best?
A lot of riders have a lot on the line in Stage Two.
| Tour de France Stage One | |||
|
| rider | team | time |
| 1 | Peter Sagan | Liquigas-Cannondale | 4:58:19 |
| 2 | Fabian Cancellara | RadioShack-Nissan |
|
| 3 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky |
|
| 4 | Philippe Gilbert | BMC |
|
| 5 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank |
|
| 6 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar |
|
| 7 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank |
|
| 8 | Daniel Martin | Garmin-Sharp |
|
| 9 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin-Sharp |
|
| 10 | Dries Devenyns | Omega Pharma-QuickStep |
|
| General Classification after Stage One | |||
|
| rider | team | time |
| 1 | Fabian Cancellara | RadioShack-Nissan | 5:05:32 |
| 2 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky | 0:00:07 |
| 3 | Sylvain Chavanel | Omega Pharma-QuickStep |
|
| 4 | Tejay van Garderen | BMC | 0:00:10 |
| 5 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky | 0:00:11 |
| 6 | Denis Menchov | Katusha | 0:00:13 |
| 7 | Philippe Gilbert | BMC | 0:00:12 |
| 8 | Cadel Evans | BMC | 0:00:17 |
| 9 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:18 |
| 10 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin-Sharp |
|
