BAD LUCK 10 Top marks for Lady Luck’s evil sister, because she really does see perfectly well and, in the end, always hits exactly who she means to. In De Lie’s case, ill again on the eve of the Tour, it is almost persecution. Help: somebody help him!
VISMA 9 Affini, Hagenes, Armirail and Campenaerts are the perfect panzers for the first part of the race, setting things up before the frantic finale, when Vingegaard, Piganzoli and Jorgenson take centre stage. Above all the American, who opens the gas and creates the gap needed to keep the rival’s comeback toward his leader under control. Piganzoli has come out of the Giro in great shape, and it is a pleasure to see him there glued to Vingegaard in the finale. For now, the first clash between the two favourites goes to the Dane, but let’s take it easy: this is not even round one yet.
NETCOMPANY INEOS 8 To be clear, almost all of this mark goes to Filippo Ganna, who confirms the further progress against the clock already seen recently at the Giro and, if his form holds up over the coming weeks, puts himself forward as a contender for the race’s only individual time trial still to come.
POGAČAR 7 Because he is the team’s heart and legs during the time trial, because he is the fastest on the final climb (and in fact he will open the dancing in stage two, right on the front row, in the polka-dot jersey). He lost the first round in Barcelona, but in Barcelona itself, today, we expect him to go looking for payback.
TEAM TIME TRIALS 6 I still have not figured out whether I like this new format. Because it is a team time trial, but the times count individually, and there may well be something ingenious in that. It may even be more meritocratic when it comes to the overall standings, but it penalises riders far too heavily if they run into any kind of problem (see, for instance, Vauquelin and Skjelmose). Be that as it may, given what was at stake and the riders involved, it was hugely entertaining.
ALPECIN, LIDL, GROUPAMA AND TIBERI 6 Fair play to all four. The first sends van der Poel into the lead, for a few minutes, before the arrival of Netcompany INEOS makes them the race leaders, but when Ganna crosses the line ahead of Philipsen, jaws and helmets hit the floor. Groupama are a different outfit altogether from the rubbish seen at the Giro, and are carried by a sparkling Grégoire who flattens the final ramp. Keep an eye on him today: with these legs, if he manages to hang on… Lidl do well too, gaining an in-form Ayuso and a driving Vacek, but losing Skjelmose, hobbled by a puncture — though he still gets away with it, conceding less than it might have been. Tiberi does well too (as does the whole Bahrain team) and, despite my criticism, finishes with a fairly limited deficit and, after one day, is still in the overall picture. Will it last?
RED BULL 5 They were my favourites, because how could they not be when you have Evenepoel and there is a time trial. The team’s combined strength produced a result inferior to that of other squads and, above all, already forces the Belgian to chew on, and then swallow, one bitter mouthful too many — softened only by the fact that he dropped Lipowitz at the first opportunity. Hierarchies, for a few hours at least, put back in order.
DECATHLON 5 Seixas was good, but not quite that good; the team did what it could, but it is below the usual names if only for lack of experience when it comes to competing at that level. Let him grow at his own pace, then. There is time, in this Tour too.
MOVISTAR 3 The sight of the three Movistar riders fanning out to wait for their designated leader, Uijtdebroeks, as he drops back with cramp – only to claw his way back on – is already the first proper Movistar moment of this Tour de France. More will come, I am sure of it.
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL 1 They set off at full tilt in an attempt to take the green jersey – which will instead go to Bernal – by posting the fastest time at the first intermediate check, a hollow little satisfaction, but they do not even manage that. They come apart almost immediately, finish a long way down, and end up second from last. The worst team in the WorldTour; yesterday they only finished ahead of Astana, who lost half the squad almost straight away in a crash. A Tour that will be uphill all the way for them – even when the road turns flat or downhill.
FORTUNE 0 It began with a high mark for rotten luck and it ends with a rock-bottom one for fortune, which looked the other way when it came to two much-anticipated protagonists, Skjelmose and above all Vauquelin, both victims of punctures and left behind. The Frenchman had his sights set on the first yellow jersey, and who knows whether leaving the company of his team-mates so early did not also play a part in Ganna’s final deficit to Vingegaard – eight seconds, in the end.