Of course, Vingegaard and Pogacar are engaged in the echelon battle, but Movistar is also celebrating after gaining time

Vingegaard and Pogacar were happy with how the opening day had gone for them. The Dane himself started the echelon and had enough teammates with him. "This was a good first day. The team supported me fantastically throughout the stage, and I want to thank them for that. A bit later, we managed to force a split. It was a very tricky moment. It was all hands on deck.“ Vingegaard said via his team.

”We were well positioned and decided to give it a go. The fact that it worked out is just fantastic. This start gives us confidence for what’s to come," he added. Pogacar was equally enthusiastic, speaking to Cyclingnews. "It was a hectic day, just as we thought. I'm just happy day one is done, and we can move on. There were some splits in the end. Me and Tim [Wellens] were in the front in the end thanks to a good job from all the team. From kilometre zero we were at the front. It paid off for us in the end.”

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Besides Vingegaard and Pogacar, the first group consisted mainly of fast men. Remco Evenepoel lost 39 seconds, Primoz Roglic also lost time, and many other men were in the second group. However, Movistar had everything well organized and finished with Enric Mas in group 1, supported by Iván Garcia Cortina. That made for happy faces at Marca after the race. “The team was spectacular, we were alert at the crucial moments, so I'm thrilled.”

Mas also gained 39 seconds on many other contenders in the GC, which is always good to have. “We knew this Tour would be like this and that it would remain so in the first few days. It wasn't comfortable, I was at the limit, but we got through the day well. Evenepoel and Roglic lost time, but luckily, I was able to prevent that thanks to Iván.” Garcia Cortina himself said: “The goal in this Tour is the podium in Paris, and we are 100% behind Enric.”