Tour de France Stage 1 - 121 miles

The 106th edition of the Tour de France began today with a celebration of the 100th year of the yellow jersey and a tribute to Eddy Mercx for 50 years since his first win.  The ride began in Brussels as a tribute to Eddy and will spend 2 days there before journeying to France.  They say the crowds are larger outside France, so there was a lot of energy from the fans.  There are new riders this year coming from  cyclocross where training involves learning how to perform at high intensity for 1 hour or more which is a good foundation for the Tour.  In the first stage riders are fresh but nervous so there is traditionally a lot of crashes.  Best practice is to try to stay out of trouble in the front.  There was a feel good story when rider Mike Teuissen of Team Jumbo-Visma stepped up after his team mate crashed to win the first Tour for the Netherlands in 30 years.  

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