Tour de France 2021 Stage 1: Crash, Bang, Wallop! The Story Of Le Grand Depart

Gosh! Well, that was an uneventful start to the 2021 edition of the Tour. Nothing to talk about here at all. Nope, nothing: zip, nil, nada. That’s not true, of course. It was a brutal opening salvo, not least thanks to the intervention of an overzealous and frankly reckless roadside spectator, who wiped out Tony Martin and most of those in his wake by thrusting a sign into the Jumbo Visma rider’s path as he passed. Mayhem ensued. Proper mayhem. And then there was another massive pile-up, this time on a rapid downhill stretch of the course. Ouch! Ned Boulting, Matt Rendell, David Millar and Pete Kennaugh pick through the bones of what might literally have been bones after two massive crashes decimated the peloton during a dramatic opening stage between Brest and Landerneau - all of which rather overshadowed Julian Alaphilippe’s victory run. It’s not entirely clear who’ll be saddling up come Sunday, such was the seriousness of both incidents, but everyone at ITV wishes all the riders well. Find out who makes it through to day 2 on ITV4 ...