The opening road stage of the Tour de France proved to be a wet, windy and wild day of racing. Torrential rain and gale-force winds wreaked havoc on the peloton. Several teams were unlucky with the weather conditions, with riders crashing and the bunch breaking to bits. While Cannondale-Garmin had Andrew Talansky and Dan Martin in the front group a crash midway through the stage sent them back into the second group, with the team forced to chase the rest of the way.

“The first road stage of the Tour is always intense,” said sport director Charley Wegelius. “This stage was especially so because of the weather and high winds. We were set in a really good position with Talansky, Dan and Koren in that first group.”

“Unfortunately, we were involved in the crash in the front group that took out a few of the other favorites,” Wegelius added. “From that moment, we were on the defensive, and the entire team worked to limit losses.”

With only 24 riders ultimately making the front group selection, many overall contenders found themselves alongside Martin and Talansky in the first chase group, including the yellow jersey. Given the landscape and routes used during the first week of the Tour de France, the chaos that dominated the day was no surprise.

“This kind of scenario will likely repeat itself several times over the next week,” Wegelius said. “We hope we are more fortunate as the wheels turn.”

The Tour de France continues on Monday with another Classic-like stage in the Ardennes region, which includes the three final climbs that featured in the 2015 La Flèche Wallonne finale, ending with the Mur de Huy.

“Tomorrow is another challenging stage, said Wegelius. “The route will test how complete a rider the Tour winner is going to be this year.”