Brest—Landerneau, 197km
Vive le Tour!
The Grand Depart of the Tour de France from Brest in Brittany went off without a hitch. And I must say it was a beautiful sight for all the crowds were out in force all day long supporting the Tour de France properly for the first time since the pandemic began. The weather was grey, cloudy, and cool for the entire day—appropriate for Brittany to be sure, and a refreshing break for many escaped to Brittany from a heat wave seeming to encompass the rest of Europe. Yes, yes, almost all the Breton fans were well behaved and encouraging. At this point in the history of French cycling, by all accounts the Bretons take the cake as the most cycling-loving Frenchmen: in the same way the Tuscans do in Italy. The Bretons have a rich cycling history to be proud of, and despite no mountain ranges their hills appear a treasure-trove of scenic cycling routes. From Brittany hail many Tour heroes and legends. In the earliest years just after the dawn of the Tour, the mysterious Petit-Breton twice won this French Grand Tour, but alas! just a few years later he was a casualty of the First World War. A few generations later, it was the Breton Jean Robic who reopened French cycling with his win of the 1947 Tour de France that brought hope back to the ruined and ruinous French country. But on the heels of Robic came the Breton Louison Bobet who was ultimately and unanimously France’s greatest star in the Golden Age of Cycling: it was he who was the first to win the Tour three times in a row in 1953, ’54, and ’55, it was he who could hold his own and best the other champions and legends of that era whose names shall never be forgotten: the Italians Coppi and Bartali, the Swiss Kubler and Koblet. Yes, yes, Bobet is one of the classy and illustrious pillars of that Golden Age, but another Breton eclipsed even his glory. Yes, yes, the Badger, Bernard Hinault, is of course famously a Breton as well. Ah! ah! to see the highlights of him churning the big gears, the intense drive to win and the scowl of pain across his face as he would punish himself and his rivals even more, what a larger than life character he was, and is, and shall be. He is the greatest French cyclist of all time. Among many other accomplishments: he won the Tour five times—only three others along with him can say the same. But still the French people wait for another Frenchman to take up his mantle, for he is also the last Frenchman to have won the Tour de France all the way back in 1985—ah! ah! truly, truly it is a drought or national curse, a sporting Returning King-esque yearning. Yes, yes, in the shadows of such legends still Brittany continues to churn out fine cyclists who are still actively working to build their legends, including attendees of this Tour: the sprinter Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels), and the 2017 King of the Mountains Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsaic). The Brittany hills provide such lovely and fertile training grounds: never is there a lack of testing terrain, and yet also routes on scenic little lanes that give all viewing an insatiable itch to get out and ride their own bicycles. Finally, in addition to the history, the scenery, and the healthy crowds of cycling admirers, the Bretons have one of the most iconic flags in cycling. Like the black-and-yellow Lion of Flanders flags that line the whole Ronde Van Vlaanderen, or the red-white-and-green Basque Country flags flying in every race that goes through that special land, to see the black-and-white Breton flag proudly flying or whipping in the wind gets the heartrate going and the blood pumping like few other symbols in cycling. In my youth I always thought it some confusing knock-off grey-scale American flag, ah! ah! but once I learned that it represented these proud Bretons, I fell completely in love with it for surely I needed such a symbol to identify this prestigious cycling people of mythical renown. This black-and-white Breton flag is seen all over France every Tour, but of course today it was and for the next three days it shall be out in droves for all the Breton stages. So, with at least minor homage paid to another heartland of cycling, what transpired on these Breton roads today during Stage 1 of the 108th Tour de France?
The road was relentlessly up and down all day, the flag dropped and the fight for the early day breakaway was on. All the riders that made this early day breakaway set their sights and hopes not on winning the stage, but on duking it out or mopping up the first points available for the King of the Mountains competition: yes, yes, the race for the Polka-Dots kicked off from the flag drop, before any real mountains were in range. Bora-Hansgrohe’s young Dutchman Ide Schelling proved the best of the break for halfway through the stage he went solo himself leaving the rest of his companions and competitors in the dust. If you had watched the Ardennes Classics this season, this was no surprise to see for it was this same young Schelling that was compulsively attacking and mixing up on similar hills to these. And it was great to see again, for not only were the crowds hyping him up, every time he crossed a line of any significance along the route he also cheered with the crowd—so energetic was his performance for he was so exhilarated to be at the pointy end of the action of his first Tour de France. Truly, it made us all smile and put us in a great mood, especially when with 47km to go Schelling crested the penultimate categorized climb alone to seal the Polka-Dot Jersey for day. Ah! But alas! only a few minutes later the refreshing, optimistic, and hopeful vibes that only the first day of the Tour can provide evaporated, as they also often do on the first day of the Tour.
Behind the peloton kept the breakaway in check all day for too many heavy favorites hoped to don the Yellow Jersey this day in addition to taking the stage win. Mostly it was Tim DeClerq (Deceuninck-Quickstep) who rode like his nickname, el Tractor, on the front for his team leader protected behind: Quickstep’s Julian Alaphilippe the Musketeer wearing the Rainbow Jersey as Champion of the World. But the other top billed favorites for this Stage 1 and the Yellow Jersey were the Mighty Aces, the Renaissance Madman Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and The Swiss Army Knife of the peloton Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) the newly decorated Champion of Belgium. Yes, yes, all were hoping to see these three duke it out on that final climb of the day: Alaphilippe in the Rainbows, Wout Van Aert in the full Belgian Black-Yellow-and-Red, and Van Der Poel in Alpecin’s special limited-edition purple-and-yellow Mercier-esque throwback kit worn in tribute to his late grandpa the legendary Raymond Poulidor, the most beloved of all French cycling stars. After the Schelling celebrations things were pinging up well for an exciting finale: all systems go for fast and hard racing. But alas! all the Bretons did not prove to be good fans today. With 45km to go, on the right side of the road up came the Jumbo-Visma train at the front of the peloton, but a roadside fan looked not on the approaching riders, instead the “fan” stupidly held a large sign backwards to be captured by the camera in front taping the riders behind. The first Jumbo rider in line was able to swerve around it, the next Jumbo rider, time-trialing legend Tony Martin, could not. The sign stuck an obnoxious two feet out into the rode, the fan seemed to have zero regard for the riders coming by and only hopes of being on TV. Unlike the rest of the admirable fans looking down the road eager for the riders to approach only to cheer them on, this fan was much too absent minded. Alas! Alas! too often this happens at the big races of the modern age. Tony Martin went down, and like dominos so did the other riders across the road, and thus in an instant 90% of the peloton was held up by the crash. It took many riders a while to get back up and in order, many bikes were wrecked, and Team DSM’s Jasha Sutterlin’s Tour de France ended right there. Truly it is a shame to see such a needless crash caused by the actions of a fan, but let it serve as a warning to the rest on the roadside not to try such shenanigans—alas! how harmful they can be!
The only team that seemed to make it through the crash unscathed was Quickstep, but like honorable gentlemen the Wolfpack did sit up and wait for the rest of the peloton to regroup. We shall assume they both wanted to win with honor by not taking advantage of such a freak accident, and they also wanted to wait for their best man on the day Julian Alaphilippe the Musketeer. It took a few kilometers for many of the heavy favorites like Bora’s Peter Sagan the Rockstar wearing the Slovakian Champion’s Jersey and Wout Van Aert The Swiss Army Knife to catch back up. But soon all the favorites were back in the peloton. Schelling was soon caught out front—truly, it seemed he had no ambitions to even attempt to stay away to the line knowing his chances were nonexistent. And the pace rapidly ramped up over the final hills as the kilometers counted down and were ticked off. But with 8km to go, disaster struck once more. The peloton was flying at some 60-or-70km/h, fighting to be at the front in the best and safest position for the final testing climb into Landerneau. Ah! But within the first 20 places, a B&B Hotels rider nudged wheels with another, he went down hard, hit the deck, skidded across the road, and so did half the peloton behind him. It was brutal to see at such high speeds, and it was frightful to see! With such a share of riders held up, surely among them must have been some stage favorite or a General Classification (GC) contender! Even if these men got up quickly with little injury to them, at such speeds and so close to the line, surely they would not be able to regain contact with those duking it out for the stage win: already on Stage 1 they would be ceding time on GC to unscathed rivals. Most notable of the injured and bruised were living legend Chris Froome and his entire Israel Start-Up Nation team, all of whom were shaky and slow to remount.
But amazingly, the heaviest favorites for the stage honors and for the GC Overall had made it through unscathed—truly towards the front in safest position. But, but, it seems many must have been out of position. Quickstep was in order on the front, surely Alaphilippe the Musketeer was among them in prime position, but where were the Mighty Aces, Wout and Mathieu? Where was the Rockstar Sagan? Had the Slovenian superstars made the group? Which of the Grenadiers were in this group? What overlooked puncheurs could seize the opportunity created by this chaos and pull off the surprise victory?
Into the climb the Quickstep Wolfpack drove it with three riders in front of their Alpha Wolf Alaphilippe the Musketeer. In one very long line was the rest of the peloton strung out. The climb was some 3km long with the steepest 14% slope coming early on in the climb. With 2.6km to go, on those steepest slopes, only one Wolf of the Pack, Dries Devenyns, was left on the front for Alaphilippe in second wheel. Behind the World Champion Alaphilippe came Wout Van Aert in the Belgian Champion’s Jersey, and Bahrain’s Sonny Colbrelli in the Italian Champion’s Jersey, followed by BikeExchange’s Michael Matthews, Trek’s Jasper Stuyven, and a massive host of others. Just, just over the steepest 14% gradient with 2.3km remaining, Quickstep’s Devenyns sat up tank emptied, job done for team leader Alaphilippe the Musketeer. And what did the Musketeer do with still so far to climb? Without hesitation Julian Alaphilippe the Musketeer and reigning Champion of the World launched away like an Apollo rocket with the same ferocity and Herculean class as we saw from Madman Van Der Poel in the Spring Classics and Egan Bernal the Grenadier at the Giro. Wout Van Aert the Belgian Champion, The Swiss Army Knife of the peloton, was on Alphalippe’s wheel when he launched…and the Wout Van Aert the Mighty Ace could not respond in the slightest. Nor was the other Mighty Ace Mathieu Van Der Poel anywhere to be seen.
Julian Alaphilippe the Musketeer, one of the top showmen of the sport among this great generation of audacious and theatric racers, was on the attack at the Tour de France in a quest for the Yellow Jersey once more. For much of the season the Mighty Aces have bested him in finishes such as these, but here today at the greatest race in all the world, on home soil, in the World Champion’s Jersey, even the Mighty Aces hadn’t a prayer to stop the Mighty Musketeer Julian Alaphilippe. In 2019, Alaphilippe went on that unforgettable and still cherished deep-run in Yellow with the epic Hectorian fall and collapse in the final week. In 2020, he kicked the Tour into full life with his Nice stage win where he donned Yellow once more and dedicated the feat to his recently deceased father. This year in 2021, on the Opening Stage of this Tour now as a father himself to a baby boy born less than a fortnight ago, Julian Alaphilippe was on his way into Yellow again for what is sure to be another flamboyant stint. Perhaps it was this intangible factor of fatherhood that fueled him so fiercely today, perhaps also it was the World Champion’s Rainbow Jersey he was wearing, and perhaps also it was the Tour’s matchless world stage that always fuels this Frenchman to soar without limits. Today the Musketeer was peerless. None, not even the Mighty Aces, were in the same class as Julian Alaphilippe the Musketeer today. Jumbo’s Primoz Roglic the Relentless went on the attack to chase him down, and Tadej Pogacar (UAE) was instantly onto the wheel of the older-brother-esque mentor he slew last year; but neither of the Slovenians could make much headway. Finally, the Mighty Ace and Madman Mathieu Van Der Poel revealed himself to trying and chase down the Mighty Musketeer as well, but to no avail he had left it too late and had not even the energy to hold off the chasers behind. Only the Frenchman Pierre Latour (Total Energie) seemed to make any headway on Alaphilippe the Musketeer, but he too in time was swallowed up by the chasing group of elite puncheurs and GC team leaders.
Alaphilippe the Musketeer won by 8 seconds ahead of Michael Matthews and Primoz Roglic and the rest of the pack, but it was clear Alaphilippe was not looking for time today. What his ambitions are for this Tour are unclear or already accomplished here today. Now already he has the stage win and the Yellow Jersey, the Maillot Jaune he always looks so fetching in. For the third year in a row, he dons it. By now we know he shall defend it as long as he can. Yes, yes, Alaphilippe in Yellow is becoming a familiar sight. We dared to dream he could take Yellow all the way to Paris in 2019. For him to do so in 2021 is not beyond the wildest realm of possibilities but is ultimately unlikely because the highest mountains shall likely be a bridge too far. Surely, Julian is not yet thinking that far ahead. He shall celebrate this victory with his family which is recently one newborn bigger. He shall fight to rank up his tally of days in Yellow. And he shall fight for more stage honors. As is always the case with this keycard-carrying Club member, this victory by Julian Alaphilippe the Musketeer has made our day. Looking back at the 2020 Tour, it is far too early to hop abroad a rollercoaster of emotion like we did for that deep-run at the 2019 Tour…and yet at the same time let us be honest with ourselves.
Already we are rooting and willing on Alaphilippe the Musketeer to stay in Yellow for as long as he can. Already once more we speculate how long he can hold it: “Tomorrow’s hilltop finish suits him even better. Then two sprint stages. There is a testing Time Trial on Stage 5, but he has won a Tour de France Time Trial before. A couple more sprint or hilly stages like this one after that. Ah! If he can make it through that TT, surely he shall hold this Yellow Jersey through the whole first week into the Alps.” Yes, yes, to Alps! To the Ventoux! To the Pyrenees! And even to Paris! Already in the deepest reaches of our minds and hearts, we wonder if he can go wire-to-wire. But whether Julian weares Yellow only until the Alps, or until the Time Trial on Stage 5, or until the Mur de Bretagne tomorrow: Vive le Musketeer, you beloved warrior and hero for France and all of cycling!
Cycling Odysseys 