INTERVIEW | “It was a bit traumatic" - Iván Romeo survives first ever Tour de France stage

Iván Romeo may not have made it into the lead group on Stage 1 of the 2025 Tour de France, but it hardly mattered. Movistar Team executed their plan to perfection, with Iván García Cortina helping to position Enric Mas in the front group alongside Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. The result: Mas gained time on key general classification rivals, including Remco Evenepoel and João Almeida.

Speaking exclusively to CyclingUpToDate after the stage, Romeo reflected on his Tour debut: “It was a bit traumatic, I’d say. Not really nice. The crowds are incredible here in France — it’s super special to be here wearing the national jersey — but it was also really nervous and hectic. But yeah, that’s what we expected. Still, it was surprising.”

He added to our colleague Rúben Silva: “Enric was really focused on today, and once he gets through this first week, he’ll be okay. But yeah, if he can gain some time here — it’s something we probably didn’t expect, but we’ll take it.”

Later, speaking to Cope about his impressions of the stage, he said: “It was good and bad — pretty overwhelming. I’ve never seen anything like it. A lot of tension with the wind, added stress. But it turned out brilliantly for Enric, which is exactly what we wanted.”

Asked about being photographed next to Pogacar before the start, Romeo was clear that he hopes to earn more moments like that: “I hope to keep earning front-row spots — that would be a good sign.”

And on the impact of crashes, such as the one involving Filippo Ganna, and whether that opens up new opportunities ahead of the Stage 5 time trial, he commented: “Crashes are never nice — some of them were really bad. It can happen to anyone; that’s just how the Tour is. I hope to be up there with the best in the time trial.”