Dutchman Teunissen wins dramatic first round of Tour de France

Marco Bertorello, AFP | Dutch rider Mike Teunissen (R) sprints with Slovak rider Peter Sagan (2nd L) to win the first stage of the 106th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, a loop starting and ending in Brussels, Belgium, on July 6, 2019.

Dutchman Mike Teunissen edged a thrilling bunch sprint to claim a surprise win in the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday after a big crash caused mayhem near the end.

The 26-year-old Team Jumbo Visna rider was not expected to be in the running for the win but he held off Slovakian Peter Sagan and Australian Caleb Ewan to take the stage by the narrowest of margins.

Teunissen becomes the first yellow-jersey holder on the 2019 Tour and the first Dutchman to lead the race since Erik Breukink 30 years ago.

“I never thought I could beat the sprinters, but in the end I got it,” Teunissen said.

“It's a dream come true. I'll remember this day for a long, long time.”

Defending champion Geraint Thomas was involved in a mass pile-up near the finish that also held up his Team Ineos joint-leader Egan Bernal, but both finished safely.

That crash also took down Teunissen’s team mate Dylan Groenewegen, one of the pre-stage favourites, but his lead-out man Teunissen took matters into his own hands to claim the yellow jersey.

“I can’t believe it, we’ve been working for months to bring Dylan to the victory and the jersey then it all disappears because he goes down in the crash,” Teunissen said.

📹 Relive the last kilometre and @MikeTeunissen's win!
📹 Revivez le dernier kilomètre de cette première étape et la victoire à la photo-finish de @MikeTeunissen !#TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/FF0SuRe90g

  Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 6, 2019

“After that I thought, I’m still fresh and everyone was dying in the last metres, even Sagan, then I took him on the line ... It was a really strange day.”

Thomas escaped injury but the same could not be said of Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang, one of the favourites for overall victory, after a heavy fall about 18 km from the finish left him groggy and with blood trickling down his face.

Nasty crash for Fuglsang. Gap to him and the peloton around 25”. #TDF2019???????? pic.twitter.com/7lTJFD70y7

  Will Newton (@InsidePeloton96) July 6, 2019

Initially it looked as though the 34-year-old Dane might lose touch but his team mates helped him recover and he worked his way back to finish in the peloton.

Belgian great Eddy Merckx, the five-times Tour champion, had got the race under way in the Grand Depart, the first in his native Brussels since 1958, in front of massive crowds in the city centre.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS and AFP)