Starting with a bang, the 2024 Tour de France opened with a thrilling finale to stage 1, with Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL duo Romain Bardet and Frank van den Broek holding off the peloton to take the win and the first Maillot Jaune of the race.
Despite the narrow margin the leading duo held and the frantic nature of the chase from the peloton behind, the time gap was held relatively stable by Bardet and Van den Broek all the way until the finish line. According to five-time Tour de France competitor, turned Israel - Premier Tech sports director, Sep Vanmarcke, the only reason for this was help from the camera motorbikes.
"It's not one bike, but a whole group," the 35-year-old Belgian explains of his belief in conversation with Sporza post-stage. More than just the help from the motos, Vanmarcke believes there may have been a French conspiracy to aid one of the darlings of the nation's cycling in Bardet. "That could be deliberate, because it's a Frenchman who rides ahead."
"Then it's very unfortunate if you can't close the gap from the peloton. It's a problem in cycling that's difficult to get out of," the Israel - Premier-Tech sports director continues. "Six men chasing from the peloton against two at the front, that's something you can never achieve as attackers. Maybe those engines were a factor that played a role."
By the time Wout van Aert led home the remainder of the peloton in third place, just five seconds were separating the leading Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL duo and the chasing pack. Would it have been different if not for the added aerodynamic benefit of the race motorbikes and camera motorbikes, we will never know. But one thing is for certain, the efforts of both Bardet and Van den Broek cannot be questioned and were rightly rewarded.
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