Stage 1: Utrecht > Utrecht (ITT), 13.8km
Like many Tour de France time-trials of late, the stage was split into two effectively: The race to win the stage and the race not to lose time amongst the contenders to win this Tour. In the former it was Dennis who came out on top ahead of known names such as Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara, while in the later category everybody got around safely and nobody lost any serious time.
The win, by default put the Yellow jersey onto the shoulders of Dennis, the first of his career, continuing for him what has been a superb 2015 season. He won the Tour Down Under back in January, took the World Hour record (since broken) in February and continued that fine form today. Like is often the case in hindsight, when you look at it all now, it's a wonder we all didn't pick him as the man to win today. My tip had been Alex Dowsett, the man who had taken the World Hour record from Dennis in May, but while he started strong, he faded late and came home 13th, 36 seconds down on Dennis.
Speaking after his ride Dowsett admitted he tried to match the average speed of Dennis but once he seen the watts it was requiring of him just to hold that speed, he knew he was done for. His body, that little more accustomed to the longer distance time-trial thanks to his recent World Hour bid, couldn't hold up on the super flat course that demanded outright power from start to finish on a twisting course that still allowed for the riders to hold their speed through the corners.
Dennis put in the fastest time reasonably early on the day and spent the rest of the afternoon in front of a TV camera in a waiting area as everyone else came in and failed to match his mark. One man who looked to be going close was Tom Dumoulin in front of his home Dutch fans. A wall of noise greeted him, three and four deep in places across the length of the course, and while he came through the split only A few seconds down on Dennis, he fell away late as a nervous Dennis watched on only for his lead to remain intact; Doumoulin finishing 8 seconds down in the end, good for 4th by the end of the day.
Which brings us to the big name favourites. All throughout this Tours build up it has been about the 'Big Four' of Alberto Contador, Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali, but of all those likely to contend it was Thibault Pinot who surprisingly went quickest, 41 seconds shy of the time set by Dennis but one seconds quicker than Tejay Van Garderen - another not included in the 'big-four' but who could well run them close - and two seconds better than defending champion Nibali.
From there back, Froome lost 7 seconds to Nibali, Contador 15 seconds and Quintana 18 seconds. Every second counts but none of them will be disappointed and certainly none of them are in trouble.
One other incident made headlines before a rider had gone down the starting ramp and that involved Astana's Lars Boom who last night was on the verge of leaving the Tour before it has even begun. He returned a pre-race health check that showed a low level of Cortisol in his system, not low enough for the UCI rules to warrant any issue but low enough that the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) - a voluntary group dedicated to higher standards of anti-doping excellence - required his withdrawal from the race. It was too late for Astana to draft in a replacement rider so rather than start the race a man short, they kept Boom in - as is their right by the race rules - and likely face having to withdraw from the MPCC.
As you can imagine this was explosive stuff the night before the Tour begun, especially for those searching for the traditional pre-Tour scandal that wasn't materialising. Astana came in for due flack, in part because of the turmoil they've been involved in this year, but also because they had agreed to the policy of the MPCC but had now gone against them.
That however was a little harsh given the circumstances. The Astana name certainly went against them, but this came right on the eve of the Tour and the UCI would not let them exchange riders. To start the 21 day race a man short when by the letter of the UCI law Boom was good to go, would be madness. The circumstances were extra ordinary in this case.
That said, if Astana did leave the MPCC it would be just another in a line of teams to do so lately. The MPCC set up is good in theory and means well but shy of lobbying the UCI to adopt their standards - something that hasn't happened due to the legal position of forcing riders outbid races without any actual sign of doping - then it leaves for a two tier system of a group of teams following the rules and another group following stricter set - and as seen last night, a set of flawed rules with holes in it. Lotto Jumbo left the MPCC recently for just that reason - riders were having to sit out races despite doing nothing wrong.
Anyway, it's a debate for another time. I genuinely hope the MPCC can work itself out and find a way to avoid teams ending up in these circumstances, but this time up the first rider rolled out onto the roads of Utrecht the next morning and the wave of madness that is the Tour took over. I suspect the story will slip away over the coming days due to the racing in store, unless of course Boom goes and wins a stage, which isn't out of the question - he won last years cobbled stage. For what it's worth Boom finished today's time-trial in a respectable 23rd, 44 seconds behind Dennis.
And so the show moves on. Tomorrow morning they'll wake up in Utrecht but will ride west towards the North Sea coast where winds could well play a big factor but where the sprinters will be hoping to get a look in. More drama is likely - there will certainly be a number of panic induced crashes - and with the first road stage we'll truly feel that this Tour is off and running.
| Result: | The big four: |
| 1. Dennis (BMC) in 14'56" 2. T. Martin (EQS) +5" 3. Cancellara (TFR) +6" 4. Dumoulin (TGA) +8" 5. Van Emden (TLJ) +15" 6. Castroviejo (MOV) +23" | 1. Nibali 2. Froome +7" 3. Contador +15" 4. Quintana +18" |
