The 2018 Tour de France kicked off in Noirmoutier-En-L'Ïle a week later in July than usual thanks to the FIFA World Cup crowding the sports broadcasts slots, and if there was a sense of urgency to get the race underway because of the wait, it was even more heightened as the peloton sought to put the polemics surrounding Chris Froome's salbutamol case behind them.
After the ASO threatened to ban Froome from racing the Tour, the UCI made an unexpected decision to drop his case from the 2017 Vuelta a España on the recommendation from WADA less than a week before the Grand Depart. The French public found the verdict difficult to accept, and Sky and Froome were greeted with boos and whistles during the team presentation and early stages.
It is far easier to ignore the cynical fans when travelling at 60kph, and the bunch cranked out 201km on the opening stage at a blazing 45kph, with Fernando Gaviria and his Quick-Step Floors squad lighting the afterburners to rocket to victory. Gaviria became the second Colombian to wear the maillot jaune after Victor Hugo Pena in 2003.
It was a week for the sprinters, with Gaviria, Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo) picking up pairs of stages each, except for the BMC-led team time trial, Dan Martin's (UAE Team Emirates) stellar victory on the Mûr de Bretagne, and John Degenkolb's emotional win in Roubaix.
After first Gaviria and then Sagan, Greg Van Avermaet took the maillot jaune in the team time trial and held it through the first rest day.
As is par for the course for the first week of the Tour, there were numerous crashes. Lawson Craddock (EF Education First-Drapac) spent half of the first stage chasing after the peloton with a bloody eye and fractured scapula, painfully making it to the finish inside the time cut and fighting to remain in the race over the next days.
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Chris Froome tussled with Katusha-Alpecin's lead-out with 5km to go and crashed into a grassy verge all gave up 51 seconds to his rivals. Richie Porte (BMC), Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), and Movistar's Nairo Quintana were all caught out by crashes and lost time, with Quintana breaking a wheel on a roundabout just outside the 3km mark and losing 1:15.
The time gains and losses, however, would be nearly all reversed in the coming stages, as one by one, the overall contenders suffered crashes or misfortune in the opening week.
Porte was the first GC rider to abandon in a crash during stage 9, before the race even hit the cobbles.
Thomas remained the best-placed rider of the general classification contenders throughout the first week, having missed all the crashes. Going into the rest day, Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) was next best seven seconds behind Thomas. Alejandro Valverde was Movistar's top man, at 48 seconds from Thomas.
Time (loss)/gains (+=bonuses) on general classification among contenders
Fernando Gaviria finished off the fine work of his Quick-Step Floors team to win stage 1, donning the first maillot jaune, and taking the lead in the points and young riders classifications.
On stage 2, Peter Sagan traded his rainbow jersey for the maillot jaune in La Roche-sur-Yon after Gaviria went down in a crash at a tight right-hand bend with 2km to go. It was just for one day, however, as he failed to stay with his Bora-Hansgrohe team on the next stage's team time trial.
The TTT reversed the advantages of most of the GC men who made the front group on stage 1, with BMC taking the victory to pull back some of Porte's losses and put Greg Van Avermaet into yellow. Team Sky, Mitchelton-Scott and Team Sunweb were all within a dozen seconds of BMC, with EF-Drapac keeping Rigoberto Uran in a strong position, losing just 35 seconds. Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) came through as the top GC favourite ahead of a handful of stages for the fast men, with Dumoulin and Uran next in line.
Winner: Fernando Gaviria Leader: Greg Van Avermaet
The GC favourites continued to be hit by crashes late in stage 4, with Uran and Landa having to chase furiously to avoid losing time with 4km to go. Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) came out the worst, losing 59 seconds, as Gaviria took out his second victory.
Peter Sagan struck again on stage 5, out-powering Sonny Colbrelli and Philippe Gilbert on the uphill finish in Quimper. Greg Van Avermaet gained two seconds on his teammate van Garderen through a time bonus, and his seventh place on the stage was enough to keep him in yellow.
Stage 6 went to Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates), who soloed away on the Mûr de Bretagne, while more GC drama played out behind. Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) touched wheels and had to stop for new equipment. While Bardet got back on, the effort cost him 31 seconds. Dumoulin fared much worse, drafting his team car too long and earning a 20-second penalty before being barraged from the convoy - losing a total of 1:13.
Winner: Dylan Groenewegen Leader: Greg Van Avermaet
Sagan's lead in the points classification went out over Gaviria when the Colombian clashed with Andre Greipel in the sprint on stage 8 and both were relegated. Dan Martin was the GC loser of the day, suffering a bad crash and losing 1:16 on the bunch.
John Degenkolb claimed an extremely emotional victory on stage 9, floating over the cobbles with fellow former Paris-Roubaix champion Greg Van Avermaet and then out-sprinting the maillot jaune and Yves Lampaert for the win. Richie Porte crashed out before the race really got going, while Rigoberto Uran was the only GC hopeful to lose significant time, giving up 1:28 after a crash.
Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.
