Cycling journalist Ned Boulting salutes Romain Bardet, who earned a popular win on the opening stage of this year’s Tour de France.
The opening stage of the Tour de France, watched in very large numbers on ITV4 (thank you!) was one of the greatest not just of recent times, but ever. It left us scratching our heads: the emotion of the victory was one thing, the manner of its execution quite another.
The first stage is unique. There is, as yet, no established hierarchy in the race, no yellow jersey. Everyone starts on zero. It is all up for grabs. So there is a lot of looking around between the teams, many of whom are attempting to call the bluff of their immediate rivals, forcing them to work, to the benefit of all the others.
It is a game of mutual dependence, spiked with rivalry. It is the art of brinkmanship, asking oneself the same question over and over again: What is the least we need to invest in this race but still come away with the desired result?
Normally it works – and especially on the first stage when the famous maillot jaune is the reward for the win. There is too much incentive, traditionally, from too many strong teams to allow such an opportunity to slip from their grasp.
And yet, on Saturday, it did just that. We are still trying to remember the last time that a breakaway won the opening stage of the Tour. It shouldn’t happen.
But the two riders who took advantage of the games being played in the peloton represent two very different generations, and combined to brilliant effect.
When Romain Bardet briefly rode alongside young Frank van den Broek within 50m of victory, to check with him that he understood the win would not be his (he understood completely, and his time will come), we all witnessed a very special moment, made even more poignant by Bardet’s victory salute, followed instantly by a double-handed point in the direction of his young team-mate, without whom the win would simply not have been possible.
Van den Broek is making his Tour debut. At just 23, and in common with many riders of his age and background, the Dutchman is a keen student of the science of cycling; not just thermo- and aerodynamics, but the all-important psychology of racing too.
He was fantastically strong and tactically masterful. He was also inspired by racing at the front of the Tour, with a real prospect of making history, in the company of a great champion like Bardet.
The Frenchman has been a significant presence for over a decade. But, despite the trickle of stage wins, the king of the mountains jersey and visit to the podium in Paris, his talent has never fully been rewarded at the Tour. Until Saturday, that is.
In many ways, Bardet is the opposite of Van de Broek. He has ridden throughout his career on instinct and with passion, which isn’t to say that he isn’t race-smart.
But he is prepared to lose, something he has done with astonishing frequency, in order to be able to savour those moments of victory which have sporadically come his way.
He is also much loved. Cycling is, above all else, a sentimental sport. Even the most casual observer, perhaps those many millions who tune in only during the month of July, will understand that suffering sits at the heart of the endeavour. You only need to have watched Mark Cavendish’s torment on stage one to realise how cruel this race is.
So to see a warrior like Bardet, at the fag end of a career which promised more than it delivered, find such unexpected and sudden fulfilment was a deep delight. The Tour was richer, will be richer, for the memory of Bardet taking yellow in Rimini.
Ned Boulting’s Marginal Mystery Tour: 1923 And All That is coming to theatres this autumn. For tickets visit www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/ned-boulting.