Geraint Thomas wins Dusseldorf Grand Depart

Team Sky Dominate Time Trial with four riders in the Top Ten as Alejandro Valverde crashes out

The opening individual time trial of the Tour De France was a damp squib.

First rider, Elie Gesbert set the first time of 17m 24s. Sonny Colbrelli was next followed by Tim Wellens, but it was Andrey Grivko who set the fastest time of 16m 21s that stood for quite awhile.

That was until Nikias Arndt went 5 seconds faster but again that didn't last too long as Matteo Trentin and then Vasil Kiryienka of Team Sky set the fastest time 16m 11s.

Off the radar and coming back after the terrible crash in the Giro d'Italia Geraint Thomas set the fastest time of 16m 4s. Thomas hasn't raced since his crash.

Thomas eagerly awaited Tony Martin's finish, but Martin failed to overhaul him.

There were a few crashes, namely Dylan Groenewegen who put in a huge slide coming into a bend. He continued on unhurt. Scott Thwaites from Team Dimension Data hit the deck and had some visible road rash crossing the finish line.

Groenewegen's team mate and Tour of California Champion, George Bennett was the next to slide off in the deteriorating conditions. By far the worst was Tony Gallopin who went down into the barriers and was spun round and shredded his kit, luckily unhurt but a bit dazed.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) is out of the Tour de France after suffering a suspected broken knee cap in a crash in the opening time trial.

Even worse, was Alejandro Valverde who went down but looked to hit a foot of the barrier. He was down for awhile and was getting up. Transferred by ambulance to the Düsseldorf University Hospital , the relevant medical examinations have confirmed two fractures in his left leg: one, in the patella; And another, in the talus, in addition to a deep cut in the tibia without muscular affectation.The doctors who attended him have decided to operate the fracture of the kneecap this evening, so Valverde will remain in hospital.

#tdf2017 LIVE: CRASH Valverde is down and he isn't getting up! Not Good! Live coverage here --> https://t.co/FxykCOrADH #tdf pic.twitter.com/un4m6E7nAj
— GranFondoGuide (@GranFondoGuide) July 1, 2017

Ion Izagirre leaves the Tour after suffering a fall

The Spaniard Ion Izagirre (Bahrain) fell on the first stage of the Tour to suffer a fall that forced him to withdraw. The cyclist suffered the fall that forced him to retire in the same place as Alejandro Valverde, as other like Frenchman Tony Gallopin. Bahrain remains leaderless after his withdrawal.

Thomas Shocked

“It’s an amazing feeling,” admitted a shell-shocked Thomas after the stage.

“I hadn’t even thought about it to be honest I was super relaxed coming in. I felt like somebody was going to beat me. I’ve had my fair share of bad luck this year and back home the last month hasn’t been great – my wife and mum have both had a bit of a rough time. It’s amazing to get this win and thanks to everyone who has supported me. It’s a great day.”

In addition to the famed yellow jersey, Thomas also pulled on the green points jersey, with Team Sky taking an early lead in the teams classification.

Chris Froome Takes Time

Froome admitted he took few risks on wet roads around the 14-kilometre course in Germany, but his time, just 12 seconds back on Thomas, stacked up very favourably against his GC rivals.

The three-time Tour winner was able to take 35 and 36 seconds respectively out of Richie Porte (BMC Racing) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), and 39 from Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale).

“I think if you’d told me at the beginning of today that this is what the GC would look like after the stage I’d have definitely taken that, I went really cautiously around a lot of those corners. I went in with the mentality not to take any kind of risks. A lot of guys hit the deck today and it just wasn’t worth it. But on the straight bits I felt I was able to push quite hard. It was great to have that feeling, especially given that my time trialling this year hasn’t been up to my normal standards.

“I think we can take a lot away from that as a team. To have four guys in the top 10 just shows the strength of the team we have here.”

More Crash Reports Coming In

There were many crashes, some of which were only known at the end of the stage. BMC's Nicolas Roche also crashed. The Irishman was one of the victims of the day's rain over Düsseldorf and at the end of the stage he was in 121th position, losing 1 minute and 14 seconds to Time Trial winner Geraint Thomas.

"The roads were a little bit greasy underneath the rain, it doesn't help. I'm not sure if (the crash was because) it was a little bit of oil or the actual tram tracks, because that was where the tracks were too," the rider said at the end of the stage. "I'm a bit disappointed".

Stage 2 on Sunday

Tomorrow's Stage two on Sunday July 2nd head south from Düsseldorf to Liège in Belgium and is a dead pan flat 202 km stage and a bunch sprint is expected.

However with any rain or wind forecast, this could be a stressful day for the GC favorites looking to stay out of trouble and not loose any time.

2017 Tour de France Stage 1 ITT, Top Ten Results

1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:16:04
2 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:05
3 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 0:00:07
4 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:08
5 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:10
6 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:12
7 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:15
8 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
9 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:16
10 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data