Dylan Groenewegen didn’t get the chance to sprint during the first stage of the Tour de France. The Dutch champion had a big scare when a rider in front of him crashed heavily, but he managed to stay on his bike. His chance to sprint, however, disappeared. Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data) won the stage to Utah Beach and took the yellow jersey.

“I’m glad that I was able to stay on my bike, but it took some stunt work,” Groenewegen said. “The Katusha rider in front of me hit a spectator and crashed hard. I touched him, but didn’t crash, fortunately.”

It happened just after Groenewegen lost some positions in front of the peloton. “We did not have many men left, so it was hard to stay in front. We succeeded in our aim to take the first positions in the race, but it was too chaotic to stay there. It was a fun day, today, though. I enjoyed the chaos.”

Risks

Timo Roosen was one of the victims in the final part of the stage. “I tried to stay with my team-mates, but slipped away in a turn,” Roosen said. “It was important to stay together, so you take some risks. It’s a shame that I crashed. You’re fighting for the best spot the whole day. Now, my knee is a little sore, but that won’t bother me too long.”

Groenewegen lacked Roosen because of his crash and Robert Wagner because he was not able to stay ahead. “I lost Sep Vanmarcke and Maarten Wynants,” the Wagner said. “If I would have been able to stay with them, we would have had a good chance. It’s very hard to prepare the sprint when it’s this chaotic. The overall riders are in front with their trains, as well. That’s a big difference with other races.”

Fight

“The stage turned out the way we expected,” Sports Director Merijn Zeeman said. “You have to get in the right position early and it’s a big fight to get there. We did a good job in that fight. It’s too bad that Timo crashed because we needed him in the final part of the race. We went to the front a little too early afterwards. It’s our plan to give Dylan a good position to sprint from and we didn’t succeed today. We didn’t know how Dylan was feeling after his intestinal problems earlier this week on the other hand. He feels well again, so that’s a good thing when you look at the upcoming week.”

The second stage of the Tour de France tomorrow ends with a third categorised climb. “It’s going to be chaotic again,” Zeeman continued. “We’re riding by the coast for a big part of the race, so the wind is going to play its role as well. That’s always stressful. It’s probably going to be a finish for the overall riders and the specialists on this terrain. We want to take part in that fight and are going to bring Wilco Kelderman in position.”