Team Sky's Geraint Thomas took home victory on Stage 1 of the 104th Tour de France, which took place on a wet and rainy day in Dusseldorf.
The clouds rolled into Dusseldorf early and left the 14km individual time trial course slick for the riders on stage 1. The riders were left with a difficult choice for how to approach their time trial. Riders who decided to take chances on the courses sharp turns put themselves at risk for hitting the tarmac, while those who went out too conservatively put themselves at risk of losing valuable seconds in the general classification.
Movistar's Alejandro Valverde, a veteran rider and perennial top-10 finisher in the general classification at the Tour de France, took a wide turn at high speeds on the rain-covered roads and ended up hitting the pavement before sliding into the guard rails that lined the course. Valverde, who broke an ankle and a knee cap from the crash, was taken to University Hospital in Dusseldorf for surgery, and was required to abandon this year's Tour de France.
Valverde was not the only other rider to wind up on the tarmac, with riders such as BMC's Nicholas Roche, Lotto NL-Jumbo's Dylan Groenewegen, Katusha-Alpecin's Rick Zabel, and Bahrain-Merida's Ion Izagirre crashing on the slippery German roads.
Despite the slick conditions, Stage 1 proved to be a great day for Team Sky, as Geraint Thomas took first on the stage, with defending champion Chris Froome finishing 6th overall on today's stage.
Thomas took his chances on the course and was able to complete the 14km route in just over 16 minutes, in a time of 16:04. Froome, the last rider to take the course, was able to finish a mere 12 seconds slower than Thomas in a time of 16:16.
Froome's time not only puts him at 6th overall in the general classification after day 1, but puts him markedly ahead of other strong contenders for the Maillot Jaune. Team Movistar's Nairo Quintana was only able to navigate the course in a time of 16:52, with AG2R La Mondiale's Romain Bardet finishing in 16:55 and Trek-Segafredo's Alberto Contador finishing with 16:58 elapsed on the clock.
Tomorrow's Stage 2 will take the riders over 203km from Dusseldorf, across the German countryside and into Belgium, before finishing on the boulevard de la Sauveniere in Liege.
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