Opening day chaos at the Tour de France – Podcast

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Nairo Quintana (Movistar) loses time after two broken wheels in stage 1 (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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Chris Froome after stage 1 of the 2018 Tour de France. (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)

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Richie Porte (BMC) caught behind crashes, also lost time in stage 1 (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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Geraint Thomas in the spotlight at the 2018 Tour de France team presentation (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Fernando Gaviria is the stage 1 winner (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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Peter Sagan at the start of stage 1 in Noirmoutier-En-L'Ïle (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images Sport)

 Without crosswinds and rain, the opening stage of the 2018 Tour de France was supposed to be a calm, almost predictable, affair, with the sprinters' teams set to dominate.

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But in the final 20km, the race descended into chaos, with several GC riders losing time in crashes and splits.

 The biggest losers were arguably Nairo Quintana (Movistar), who lost over a minute, and Chris Froome (Sky) and BMC's Richie Porte, who both conceded 51 seconds to their closest rivals. The Tour is only a day old, but has already started to create a pecking order in terms of the yellow jersey.

We hear from Froome, his teammate Geraint Thomas, and Porte.

The stage was won by Quick-Step's Fernando Gaviria, who claimed his maiden stage on his first outing in the race. We look at his chances for the rest of the week, and hear world champion Peter Sagan's (Bora-Hansgrohe) thoughts on the stage.

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