UAE Team Emirates started their first Tour de France campaign with a wet 14km Individual Time Trial along the slippery streets of Dusseldorf, with rider Diego Ulissi producing a solid performance on the sodden route faring better than many GC contenders.
Meanwhile, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) became the first cyclist to wear the coveted Yellow Jersey (Maillot Jaune) – taking the lead with a time of 16:04.
“It went better than previous Time Trials so I’m pleased with that,” UAE Team Emirates’ rider Louis Meintjes said.
“My legs felt good and I’m just happy to start the Tour. I’m not really an ITT specialist so for me my focus was to not lose too much time and I think we did that today.”
Stage Two sees the first boarder change on the Tour, as riders depart Dusseldorf in Germany on the 203.5km route heading to Belgium’s Liege – the 11th time the city has hosted a stage on the Tour de France.
Despite being a predominantly flat race, a number of steep climbs dotted around the latter part of the course could have a significant impact on the finishing places and an attacking end to the day could see a bunched sprint finish, as riders say goodbye to Germany and hello to Belgium.
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
| 1 | Geraint Thomas Team Sky | 0:16:04 |
| 2 | Stefan Küng BMC Racing Team | 0:00:05 |
| 3 | Vasil Kiryienka Team Sky | 0:00:07 |
| 42 | Diego Ulissi UAE Team Emirates | 0:00:43 |
📸@DiegoUlissi finished 42nd place in the opening @LeTour time trial, 43" down on the winner Thomas.
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamUAEAbuDhabi) July 1, 2017
Report to follow.#UAETeamEmirates pic.twitter.com/8u9PYy6K9i
