Stage One of the Tour de France 2024 From Florence to Rimini

The Tour de France 2024’s stage one from Florence to Rimini is set to be a challenging 206km route. The race will begin in Italy, a country with scarce cycling talent. The opening stage is suited to Giulio Ciccone’s punchy talent, but Tadej Pogacar aims to gain an early advantage with three second category climbs. This stage will be crucial in remembering a true great, and it will reveal the contenders for the yellow jersey in Paris in a team-by-team guide.

A Battle of Titans: Pogačar vs. Vingegaard

The Tour de France 2024 is the biggest race of the men’s WorldTour season, with Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard set to face off in the mountains of Tuscany. Vingegaard’s fitness is a topic of debate due to injuries he sustained in a major fall in the spring. Pogačar has suffered a pre-Tour setback due to a late bout of Covid-19. Cycling Weekly predicts that only two of the ‘big four’ will make the podium, with Adam Becket and Tadej Pogačar expected to make it.

The crash at Itzulia Basque Country has robbed the dream of a Grand Tour with a tussle between the best. Pogačar’s dominant performance from the Giro d’Italia will have to suffice, while Roglič’s tenacity may keep him close to Pogačar for most of the race. Vingegaard and Evenepoel are expected to perform well, but their chances of making the podium are unlikely.

Rising Stars and Seasoned Veterans

Ben Healy, a 23-year-old Irish rider, is expected to take the first yellow jersey during the opening weekend of the Tour de France. Healy is making his debut at the Tour and has circled stage one as the day to immediately stamp his mark on the race. With more than 3,500 metres of vertical gain, the bumpy course seemed to be designed with a rider like Healy in mind. Healy is backed by riders like Neilson Powless, Alberto Bettiol, and Richard Carapaz, making anything possible for him.

Mark Cavendish is expected to win two stages at this year’s Tour, becoming the sole all-time record holder with 35. The key for Cav is his leadout, as he hasn’t lost any of his nous for sniffing out gaps. The competition is strong, but there look to be up to eight opportunities for sprinters, giving Cav plenty of time to grow into the race.

Remco Evenepoel is expected to wear yellow for 12 days, only relinquishing it ahead of the final weekend. The opening stages are similar to one-day races, and Evenepoel is within 30 seconds of the lead in stage seven’s time trial.

Honoring a Legend: Marco Pantani

The Tour de France will celebrate the tragic rise and fall of Italian cycling legend Marco Pantani, who was banned for using drugs. Twenty years after his death in Rimini, Italy, fans will visit his museum and statue, as they still ride the sportive named after him. Pantani’s career began in 1994 with a meteoric rise, followed by a hubristic zenith, dramatic downfall, sordid death, and blurred legacy.

Pantani’s meteoric rise came in 1994 when the cycling world recognized his talent as a slight, accident-prone, and unpredictable mountain climber. He won two stages at the Tour in 1995 before suffering an open fracture in October. Pantani’s 1998 victory in the Giro and Tour had such impact that sport loved a comeback. His downfall was more dramatic when he failed a routine blood test in the final week of the Giro, leading to legal cases and a six-month ban. In 2001, Pantani was caught by the drugs police, leading to another six-month ban and refusal of entry to the centenary Tour de France in 2003.

Italy’s Grand Départ

Italy is set to host the Grand Départ of the Tour de France for the first time, with an estimated 800,000 cycling fans expected to gather in Florence. The event is a fitting tribute to Italy’s legendary cyclists, including Marco Pantani, Gastone Nencini, and Alfonsina Strada. Gioia Bartali, the race’s first stage’s honorary sponsor, is particularly moved by the event. Born in Florence, her grandpa Gino Bartali won the Tour de France twice and was later found to have saved the lives of hundreds of Italian Jews during World War II.

The race will take place in front of the Gino Bartali museum in Ponte a Ema, where the champion was born. The race will also feature Cinzia Otri, an ice-cream maker who has created a special flavor dedicated to the Tour de France, served at her Gelateria della Passera in the Santo Spirito area of Florence. Bartali’s grandfather, who also won the Giro d’Italia three times, used his bike to courier counterfeit identity documents to Jews hiding out in Tuscany and neighboring regions during the war. The 2024 Tour de France route will depart from Viola Park, Fiorentina FC’s sports hub, with the first stage taking the peloton eastwards to Rimini.

A Historical Race: The 111th Tour de France

The 111th Tour de France, the biggest cycling event, will begin on June 29 and is a team sport with twenty-two teams of eight riders competing over 2,235 miles in 21 stages. The race is sponsored by L’Auto and has occurred annually except during World Wars I and II and the COVID-19 pandemic. The yellow jersey, which signifies the current race leader, was introduced in 1919. Two riders are competing for their third Tour de France, with Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark winning the last two years and Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia winning the Giro d’Italia in May. The event begins in Florence, Italy, and the route changes every year to keep things interesting. The Tour will end outside of Paris for the first time since 1975, with cyclists crossing the finish line in Nice on July 21.

Watching the Tour de France

To watch or stream Tour de France coverage live, subscribers can use Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, or catch highlights on NBC’s live-TV streaming service. NBC can be accessed free with an over-the-air antenna and reception or with live-TV streaming services like DirecTV Stream, Hulu with Live TV, and YouTube TV.