Britain's Geraint Thomas rides with the pack during the first stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197.8 km with start in Brest and finish in Landerneau, France, Saturday, June 26, 2021. (DANIEL COLE / AP)
LANDERNEAU, France - Geraint Thomas was happy just to survive a brutal opening day on the Tour de France after the first stage was marred by two huge crashes that saw two of his fellow Ineos-Grenadiers overall contenders losing time on Saturday.
"It was a solid day, stressful with a few crashes. In the big crash at the end I had no idea who was in it," the 2018 Tour champion, who is a favourite this year, told reporters.
Geraint Thomas crossed the line in 10th place - eight seconds behind stage winner Julian Alaphilippe of France after the 197.8-km ride from Brest that ended with a short, steep climb up to the Cote de la Fosse aux Loups
"It ended up with (team mate) Richie (Porte) being in it which wasn't great. I was just concentrating on staying on my bike basically," added Thomas.
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He crossed the line in 10th place - eight seconds behind stage winner Julian Alaphilippe of France after the 197.8-km ride from Brest that ended with a short, steep climb up to the Cote de la Fosse aux Loups.
Team mates Porte and Tao Geoghegan Hart were involved in separate crashes and ended up 2:16 and 5:33 off the pace respectively in a massive blow to their overall chances.
"I was too far back on that last climb," added Thomas.
"At the time I thought it's okay, I'll sit here and then slowly move up when it lulls. I was expecting it to lull after the steep bit and then move up a bit. But it never lulled. I think because Alaphilippe went so hard for so long, it was just full gas all the way up.
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"It made my life a bit harder. But for me personally it's not too bad. I never feel 100% on the first stage after a few easy days. Happy to get through it but gutted about Richie and Tao."
