Tour de France 2021 – Stage 1 Photo Gallery and Report

A crash-marred Stage 1 was won by Julian Alaphilippe, who attacked with 2km to ride from a reduced field to triumph in Landerneau.


The Bicycling Editors |

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Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe dusted himself off from a fall to claim the first yellow jersey of the Tour de France on Saturday, winning stage 1 by a clear margin on a crash-marred opening day.

World champion Alaphilippe shot up the early section of the final 3km climb taking 10 bonus seconds at the finish line and ended another 12 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger.

Australia’s Michael Matthews was second and is second overall at 16 seconds while Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic came third and is in the same position in the overall standings.

Crossing the line in his world champion’s rainbow jersey, Alaphilippe put his thumb in his mouth in honor of his newborn son with his partner Marion Rousse, a former professional cyclist and now commentator.

INEOS Grenadiers leader Geraint Thomas and defending champion Tadej Pogacar were just behind this group on a hugely stressful finish with major time gaps at stake that almost certainly led to the second of two mass falls on the day.

Just before the finish, around 20 riders lay stricken and needing attention shortly after a first mass fall on the Tour de France opening stage including four time champion Chris Froome.

Unlike the earlier crash caused by a fan, the second came as the peloton was going around 70kph some 5km from the finish line.

A first fall happened some 45km away from the finish line of stage one of the Tour between Brest and Landerneau.

A fan brandishing a sign brought down German rider Tony Martin who was riding near the head of the pack and close to excited roadside spectators.

The Jumbo-Visma rider fell, bringing down a huge number of fellow peloton members behind him. The crash held up the race for five minutes while bikes and bodies were untangled.

The race leaders slowed down to allow the stragglers to catch up and despite the spectacular tangle only one rider, Germany’s Jasha Sutterlin of DSM, has so far had to pull out due to the accident.

Italian champion Sonny Colbrelli and Dutch rider Wout van Aert, who ran over Martin before falling head over heels, had both been amongst the favourites to win the first stage hilltop finish but were both badly delayed.

Hordes of unmasked fans decked out in red-and-white polka dot caps and shirts lined the narrow Brittany country lanes for the 197km stage as France eases its COVID-19 restrictions.

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