Stage 1: Nice Moyen Pays>Nice
Nearly two months after the Tour usually kicks off, the 2020 Tour de France officially kicked off from Nice. Fans were in attendance, but the crowd was not at its usual capacity for the start of the Tour. After a slightly longer than anticipated neutral zone, three riders managed to create a breakaway right from the gun. Narrow, winding roads through the hills surrounding the southern town were made more treacherous by heavy rain that began as the race neared the first hour of racing.
The wet roads lead to numerous crashes involving some race favorites like Julian Alaphilippe and Caleb Ewan. Alaphillipe at one point was almost four minutes behind the breakaway and 2 and a half minutes behind the peloton. Crashes happened on the descents, around corners, and even on straight roads.
The race brought the riders over a category 3 climb twice, with the breakaway taking all points available and Fabien Grellier becoming the first King of the Mountain leader. However, just after the second time through, the peloton gobbled them up.
The sprint point proved to be contentious as Michael Schär took the 20 points up for grabs for the first across the line and a crash happened at the line further back in the pack.
The riders took it easier as they navigated the final kilometers until the finish line. Another crash, just after the 3km mark assured those involved would get the same time as the leaders.
A bunch sprint across the line had Alexander Kristoff winning the first stage and taking the yellow jersey.
