Tour de France crashes make an immediate impact on Ineos Grenadiers leadership strategy

Geraint Thomas with his Ineos Grenadiers teammates on stage 1 of the Tour de France
Geraint Thomas with his Ineos Grenadiers teammates on stage 1 of the Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Two massive crashes in the Tour de France opening stage to Landerneau left a significant number of riders battered and bloody and also immediately impacted Ineos Grenadiers' leadership strategy.

Geraint Thomas finished in the select lead group of 20 riders that finished eight seconds down on lone stage winner Julian Alaphilippe, while Richard Carapaz was slightly distanced in the line of riders and lost five seconds to Thomas and many of his overall rivals.

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Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.