Teunissen Sprints to First Stage Win!

Dutch rider Mike Teunissen sneaked up through the sprinters, drafted at the right moment, and then burst past Peter Sagan (who else would come in second?!?) to win this year's first stage.  This was a huge surprise for Teunissen, who earned his first grand tour stage win.  Check out how close the finish was (click on image for a larger view).

You can see Teunissen on the right, just edging Sagan at the finish line.  I tried getting a screen shot while watching live, but I couldn't tell who won (click on image for a larger view).

I actually thought Sagan had won, but then saw the replay, where I got the first screen capture above.  You can see the winning time in the upper left of my screen shot.  Teunissen will get a 10-second time bonus for the win, and he'll be donned in yellow tomorrow.  That means Sagan will be wearing Teunissen's green jersey.  Check out how Teunissen's time compares to our prediction.

• Stage 01:  4h 22' 47" (actual), 4h 32' 00" (prediction), 09' 13" slow (3.51% error)

It was a beautiful day for racing, and speeds in Brussels near the finish hit 78 kph (48 mph), so racing was just a tad faster than we thought.  I'll still take the relatively small error!  Teunissen's average speed is given below.

• Stage 01:  12.34 m/s (44.41 kph or 27.59 mph)

There were a couple of crashes that hopefully won't have big implications for the rest of the Tour de France.  Teunissen's Team Jumbo-Visma mate Dylan Groenewegen crashed with just about 1.5 km left in the stage.  I got a screen capture of the crash (click on image for a larger view).

I think that's Groenewegen lying face down with the yellow and black jersey.  Inside of 20 km left was a crash that scarred Swiss cyclist Jakob Fuglsang (click on image for a larger view).

The screen capture below shows some of the damage to Fuglsang, who may have been cut by his sunglasses (click on image for a larger view).

The Tour de France will be much better with Fuglsang and Groenewegen healthy and competing in top form.  I hope they're okay!

I have never been to Brussels.  Watching the Tour de France begin there makes me want to visit the Belgium capital!  Check out the peloton entering the city (click on image for a larger view).

Looks amazing!  Cyclist will stay in Brussels for tomorrow's 27.6-km (17.1-mi) team time trial.  I love watching team time trials.  Team strategies will be on full display as riders swap drafting positions.  Lots of great physics!  Below is our prediction for the second stage.

• Stage 02:  29' 41" (prediction)

I hope our prediction is a little better than today's, but a record-setting time could have us too slow again.  We shall see!