For Belkin, the first day of the Tour de France was mostly about keeping Bauke Mollema safe. However, Sep Vanmarcke decided to give it a shot in the final sprint and he was frustrated to have been hampered by the late crash.

The Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM made a fine start to the 101st Tour de France. Leader Bauke Mollema ended up 21st in Harrogate, England, at the end of stage one and didn’t lose any time on winner Marcel Kittel of Giant-Shimano. 

“There were many narrow roads and dangerous descents, and moreover, the pace was high, but I never got in a difficult situation,” said Mollema. “Halfway, there were a few hectic kilometres and a rider bumped in to me after which I had to stop, but that wasn’t a real situation. My legs were good. I felt fine today.” 

Mollema enjoyed the British fans during the opening stage.

“It seemed like we were riding on the Champs-Elysées all day long. People lined the course, two or three deep, everywhere. The start with the British royal family was nice, as well.” 
 

Mollema had help from his team-mates during the stage from Leeds to Harrogate.

“On the second climb, the peloton broke into pieces partly because of the wind, but all nine of us were safe and sound at the front at that point,” said Maarten Wynants. “In the final we sat just behind the sprinters with Bauke.” 
 

Sep Vanmarcke was able to work his way into the bunch sprint thanks to a vicious climb in the final. Despite being hindered by a crash with Mark Cavendish, the Belgian managed to place eighth. He wasn’t completely satisfied, however. 

“Thanks to the hard race and the hard final, I was able to hold Kittel’s wheel for a long time. With 350 metres to go, the pace went down, but still I felt strong enough to accelerate and sprint for a top three. The crash ruined my chances however.” 
 

“We got through the day perfectly,” said Sports Director Nico Verhoeven. “The only setback was a crash involving Lars Boom and Stef Clement. It’s never amusing when you go down, but both seem to be OK. We deliberately didn’t interfere too much today. In the end, we’re satisfied. 

“Tomorrow will be a tough and again a hectic day. Today, you saw that many guys were immediately dropped when the peloton accelerated, but because the high pace didn’t continue for too long, everyone kept coming back, but tomorrow is going to be a difficult stage.”