Top Men: Daniel Martin chats to Tasmanian rider Richie Porte of Team Sky in the early kilometres of today's opening stage of the Tour de France.
Gavin McLoughlin
Ireland’s Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche will be glad to see the back of a bizarre opening stage of the 100th Tour de France today, Saturday.
There was absolute bedlam in the final kilometres as a series of changes to the location of the finish line was accompanied by multiple crashes involving big-name riders.
With about 20 kilometres of the stage remaining, the incredible news that the Orica-Green Edge team bus had become wedged under the finishing banner began to filter through.
This forced the commissaires to move the stage finish to the 3 kilometre to go point. With the new finish line rapidly approaching and the pace electric in the peloton, the bus was moved and the original finish line reinstated.
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The chaos abounding, riders fought frantically for position and it was no surprise when a massive crash ensued. The high speed pile-up ended the stage win hopes of big favourites Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma–Quick Step), André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) and Peter Sagan (Cannondale).
Nicolas Roche’s Saxo-Tinkoff team leader Alberto Contador was also among those on the deck, in a crash that appeared to be caused by Greipel when he tried to squeeze up the inside of the front of the bunch.
Roche himself managed to avoid coming to grief and was present as a lucky lead group contested the stage victory. And while Martin (Garmin-Sharp) came home in 93rd slot, he was also not a faller today.
Argos-Shimano sprinter Marcel Kittel was fastest and the German will wear the yellow jersey tomorrow.
Speaking on television in the aftermath of his victory, Kittel said he was unaware that the finish line had been moved and then reinstated or that the bus had become stuck.
The race organisers will be on the receiving end of ferocious criticism after the day’s farcical events. They were left with no choice but to neutralise the time gaps caused by the crashes, meaning all riders will start tomorrow on the same general classification time.
It was a most dramatic end to a day that had begun in gentle fashion as the riders took in 213km from Porto-Vecchio to Bastia for the first stage of the Tour ever to take place on Corsica.
The early breakaway formed immediately after Tour director Christian Prudhomme signalled for the racing to begin, with a quintet of Jerome Cousin (Europcar), Juan-Jose Lobato (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Lars Boom (BelkinProcycling), Cyril Lemoine (Sojasun) and Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil – DCM) riding off into the distance.
Omega Pharma, Lotto-Belisol and Argos-Shimano swapped turns on the front as the peloton trundled along the narrow Corsican roads. Blissfully unaware of the carnage that was to come, the riders quickly settled into a relaxed rhythm.
The race almost came back together with 108 km remaining, but the chasers were reluctant to set the stage for more attacking and practically came to a halt in their efforts to leave the breakaway intact.
When the pursuers passed through the day’s intermediate sprint, there was a taste of the stage finish that might have been, with Greipel nabbing most of the spoils ahead of Cavendish and Sagan.
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Less than 50 kilometres remained, and the massed ranks of Radioshack-Leopard were now on the front, spearheaded by the evergreen German Jens Voigt.
The remnants of the breakaway were quickly reeled in and the pace ratcheted right up as the road became littered with street furniture. Radioshack and Roche’s Saxo-Tinkoff squad fought hard to keep their leaders out of danger.
The peloton was strung out in a long line and for a moment a big split in the bunch looked a real possibility. Sky, BMC and Movistar were among the teams now taking turns on the front as the riders hurtled towards the finish line in Bastia.
A temporary truce was called at the head of affairs with about 20km remaining. Then there arrived the news of the jammed bus, and the crazy litany of events began to unfold.
The challenge for the Irish duo is to put today’s chaos behind them and focus on the long three weeks ahead. The fact that neither is nursing road rash nor any other crash-related injuries is a major bonus given the number of riders who fell, some of them very hard.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Volta a Catalunya champion Martin is a pillar of a three-pronged general classification strategy for the Garmin-Sharp squad at this race, sharing team leadership with Ryder Hesjedal (who also crashed today) and the young American Andrew Talansky.
Martin turned in an aggressive display at the Tour de Suisse earlier this month, bagging 8th place overall and demonstrating encouraging form in the high mountains.
The Irishman has cut a confident figure in pre-race interviews, and this year’s arduous route should suit his characteristics. Irish fans will be fervently hoping for Martin to announce his arrival as a Grand Tour contender.
Nicolas Roche takes to the Tour as a key lieutenant of twice overall winner Alberto Contador.
Relatively quiet in the early part of the season, the Saxo-Tinkoff man performed strongly in service of Roman Kreuziger at the Tour de Suisse and will hope to repeat that form here.
It is a change of role for Roche, who has competed as a team leader in recent years, but the Irishman’s new responsibilities may afford him the freedom to hunt for stage wins later in the race.
How sweet it would be if Roche could take the first Irish Tour de France stage victory since his father Stephen won stage 16 of the 1992 Tour.
Tomorrow’s leg is a hilly 156km run from Bastia to Ajaccio.
Dan Martin has pointed to the mountains classification as a secondary goal, and the polka dot jersey will be up for grabs tomorrow as the riders tackle four categorised climbs. The overall favourites will be wary of letting Martin escape, but the Irishman might well be tempted to dart clear and make a bold impression in the early days of this race.
Whatever the outcome tomorrow, let’s just hope for less carnage.
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