Mountain binge in the second round. The high peaks abruptly broke into this unusual Tour. Two first-class passes and two more stops prior to arrival on the Paseo de los Ingleses in Nice altered the rhythm of a race that has barely begun to breathe. A winding journey through the Maritime Alps, with villages perched on dizzying headlands, that crowned Julian Alaphilippe , the new leader after a harrowing victory. The French musketeer, who jumped 12 kilometers from the finish line, beat the young Swiss Marc Hirschi and the British Adam Yates by a span . A trio who phenomenally calibrated their income to avoid being hunted by a hungry squad. A leader with a poster and prestige that raises the value of a Tour full of unknowns.

First mountain stage, with 4,000 kilometers of unevenness, which was a martyrdom for the victims of the Dantesque opening day, such as Mikel Landa , always suffering, who received blows to his fractured ribs at the end of January, when he was hit by a car when he trained on Alava highways. Today's was a pending issue for former world champion Belgian Philippe Gilbert , for Spaniard Rafa Valls and for German John Degenkolb , who did not start. First casualties for a Tour that is presumed devastating. That is well known to Peter Sagan (Bora), who seeks to extend his lead in the historical classification of the jersey, with seven reigns. Today he got into a leak in which he scratched unexpected spots. The Slovakian was accompanied by Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora), Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo), Benoît Cosnefroy (Ag2r La Mondiale), Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck), Anthony Pérez (Cofidis) and Michael Gogl (NTT). A periscope controlled getaway, with margins always lower than four minutes. The highlight of the day was behind, with Roglic's Jumbo setting the pace on the ascent to Colmiane, land where José Manuel Fuente and Pedro Torres signed epic battles in the 70s of last century.

At the start of the climb to Turini, Kristoff's UAE Emirates took over, but the leader soon dropped out of the ranks of the best. Even his teammate Tadej Pogacar had mechanical problems on the descent: he changed the rear wheel and lost more than a minute. Moments of overwhelm for the young Slovenian, oblivious to the hunt for the escapees, neutralized on the first ramps of the Alto d'Eze, with 39 kilometers to go. Permanent wear work, which left the peloton with only 70 units, with Kristoff already six minutes (in the end he lost more than 20 minutes) and the Jumbo leading the way to Ineos. Group lined up and fall of the Colombian Daniel Felipe Martínez , winner of the last Dauphiné. Inopportune puncture of Alejandro Valverde . Dumoulin sharpener going up the last level. The Tour is unforgiving with novices and veterans. The fall of the Dutchman, shortly after the valiant attack on Julian Alaphilippe, 12 behind. The Frenchman lit the fireworks fuse, with responses from Hirschi, Yates and Marc Soler. With the Jumbo injured, the race was left without an owner. And Alaphilippe took advantage of that to score his first victory and take command of a career with a great following in career and television. The first stage was seen by an average of 3.18 million viewers, with a peak of 4.37 million, on the French channel France 2. The broadcast registered a 30% share, the best audience data for a Inaugural stage of the 'Grande Boucle' since 2013, according to the organization of the race, happy with the leadership of Alaphilippe.

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