Dan Martin dodges bullet on drama-hit Tour de France opening stage

Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche come through Tour chaos

Dan Martin finished two minutes behind the leading men on the opening stage but was credited with the same time as the winner.

The UAE Team Emirates rider also came off worst of the GC
men in splits mid-stage.

When the racing split on the cobbles as Bora-hansgrohe
wound it up before an intermediate sprint, the Irishman found himself in a
group almost 1½ minutes down.

The field then immediately knocked off the pace once the
sprint was over, allowing Martin and those he was with get back on.

And at the finish because the field became scattered by a
crash inside the final 3km, only those who were already dropped before the 3km
marker actually lost time.

It means Martin, who is targeting the general classification while his cousin Nicolas Roche is looking to try for a stage win, got the same time as winner Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma).

However, it was an opening stage where Dan Martin lived dangerously and he was very lucky not to concede time.

Martin (UAE Team Emirates) eventually finished in 121^st
position. Roche (Team Sunweb) was in 40^th; also on the same time as
the stage winner and first yellow jersey of Tour 2019.

One of the main talking points from the opening stage –
some 194.5km finish in Brussels – was crashes.

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One of the big pre-race favourites Jakob Fuglsang
(Astana) crashed, and was badly injured, with about 17km remaining.

While he got back into the group and lost no time, he had cuts in several places; including above his eye and his arm and shoulder.

The crash close to the finish – with 2.1km to go – saw Dylan
Groenewegen (Jumbo Visma) hit the deck very hard.

However, while his team had focused on today’s finish, in
their preparation and recon, so Groenewegen could win and take yellow, Teunissen
stepped in and nailed the gallop.

In the slightly uphill finish he was too strong for Peter
Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal).

Teunissen, a very strong but unheralded rider, was taking
his first ever Grand Tour stage.

However, his victory comes after stage and overall wins
in ZLM Tour and the Four Days of Dunkirk so he is no stranger to the top step
on the podium.

Tomorrow the riders face a 27.6km TTT, again starting and
finishing in Brussels, when the first time gaps of this race will emerge.