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29 August 2020Alexander Kristoff wins the opening stage of the 2020 Tour in the sprint and wears the first yellow jersey. With a sprint of power, the Norwegian burns the Danish world champion Mads Pedersen at the finish line in Nice, at the end of a fraction characterized by rain and many falls, so much so that neutralization has been decided (i.e. the freezing of times) of the last 3 of the 156 total kilometers. In third place the Dutch Cees Bol, then the Irish Sam Bennett and the Slovak Peter Sagan. Sixth Elia Viviani and seventh Giacomo Nizzolo, very good at returning after a fall.

In 45th position the winner of the Grande Boucle 2019, the Colombian Egan Bernal, who is also the only winner at the start, after the forfeits of Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali and Geraint Thomas. Slovenian Primož Roglic, considered the Colombian's main opponent, finished 39th.

“Le Grand Départ” of this tour without an audience takes place on the French Riviera, which for once offers a leaden sky. The route of the first stage, with starts and finishes in Nice, is for sprinters and the group arrives at the sprint in compact ranks, but how much effort! Along a path with some climbs (never above 500 meters) and obviously descents there have been many falls, with illustrious “victims”: Nizzolo, Ewan, Alaphilippe and Sivakov to name a few. Indeed, at a certain point Tony Martin at the head of the group makes sweeping gestures to invite colleagues to moderate the pace.

The stage was characterized by the escape at the start of three men: the Swiss Michael Schär and the French Cyril Gautier and Fabien Grellier with 2'40 ”. When there are 62 km to go to the finish line Grellier gives up. Then Schär tries the solitary action, but is reabsorbed at -58 km. The Frenchman Benoît Cosnefroy attempts the sortie, but is reached 13 km from the finish. Sprint with compact ranks and Kristoff's cue.

Now the second stage with the first mountains: the Col de la Colmiane and the Col de Turini of the first category and the Col d'Èze of the second. The total kilometers are 186.