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BILBAO, Spain — Enric Mas and Spain’s Movistar team saw six months of hard work go down the drain in an instant when he crashed out of the Tour de France with about 20km to go in the opening stage of the 2023 edition.
The Tour de France is as cruel as it is generous.
Luckily, Mas was not seriously injured, even though the emotional pain and frustration of opportunity lost could haunt him longer than his injuries.
Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) was another victim in the same crash. The 2019 Giro d’Italia winner lost 15 minutes, and later abandoned.
“It’s always hard when your leader crashes on the first stage of the main goal of the year. Crashes can happen,” said EF sport director Juanma Garate. “In five minutes we went from happy to really sad.”
Also read:
Teams for two of the Tour’s pre-race favorites are forced to reshuffle their goals and priorities a lot sooner than would be expected.
It’s not the first time.
Mishaps, misfortune, and plain bad luck that have marred the opening stage of a Tour for decades.
For any sporting event with a history as long as the Tour’s, it’s more often than not that something can and will go wrong eventually.
Crashes can happen at any time in the Tour de France.
The first stage is just as dangerous as any stage. In fact, some days it’s the most dangerous stage of the race.
“If anything, it will add to it,” said Movistar’s Matteo Jorgenson before the start Saturday. “You will see the normal tension that the first stage of the Tour will bring. It will be very hectic.”
Saturday’s crash took out two of the Tour’s pre-race podium favorites in a costly harvest.
It’s not the first time. Here are other opening-day incidents that have left their mark on the Tour’s final outcome:
5. Pedro Delgado: Missing the prologue start 1989
Delgado was the famous ‘third man’ in the historical 1989 Tour. (Photo: Jean-Yves Ruszniewski/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
Defending yellow jersey Pedro Delgado was favored to win a second title when the 1989 Tour started in Luxembourg.
Problem was, Delgado did not receive the memo.
As the final starter in the opening prologue, Delgado missed his scheduled start time. He and his team were lost in the back streets of Luxembourg — remember, this was long before GPS — and the clock started without him.
When he finally arrived in a panicked state, the clock already bled 2 minutes, 42 seconds.
Erik Breukink won the prologue, and Delgado finished dead last at 2:54 slower. Take away the time be lost by missing the start, he only a dozen seconds to the Dutch rider.
Delgado would later finish third overall behind none other than Greg LeMond, who used a final-day time trial to reverse his gap to Laurent Fignon in perhaps the most famous Tour of them all.
4. David Millar: Dropping a chain in 2003
Millar dropped his chain and lost the yellow jersey by a fraction of a second. (Photo: PAOLO COCCO/AFP via Getty Images)
David Millar looked to have the yellow jersey in the bag late in the opening prologue of the 2003 Tour. That is until he dropped his chain.
The British star was riding a then-unconventional single front chainring, and after setting a blistering fast markers, his chain slipped near the finish line. Millar didn’t come to a complete stop, and managed to use his fingers to remount his chain.
Still, the momentum was lost, and so too was the maillot jaune.
That ensuing chaos allowed Bradley McGee to win and claim yellow by 0.14 seconds. Ouch.
3. Alejandro Valverde: Wet roads spell demise in Dusseldorf in 2017
Valverde moments before crashing. (Photo: im de Waele/Corbis via Getty Images))
OK, the “Green Bullet” was never going to beat Chris Froome in the peak of his powers, but he was third in the Giro the previous season, and would finish second in the Vuelta two years later.
Everyone said wet roads on the technical, urban course on the mean streets of Düsseldorf could spell trouble, but Valverde went full-gas. He slid out on a corner, and was taken way by ambulance with a fractured kneecap.
That was among only five of 32 grand tour starts that Valverde would not finish in long, durable, and sometimes controversial career. Movistar knows how bad luck can sting on the first day.
2. Lawson Craddock and his long march home in 2018
Never give up. Craddock rode to the end in last place. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
American rider Lawson Craddock finished last in the opening stage after suffering a horrendous crash when a feed back got caught up in his wheel.
Craddock tumbled over his handlebars, and smashed onto the tarmac. Texas Tough Craddock refused to give up, and rode all the way Paris to finish the race despite breaking his scapula.
Craddock might be the only rider in Tour history who finished last on the first stage, and finished as the lanterne rouge as the last place rider on the last stage. Bravo for making it to Paris.
1. Omi-Opi and the mother of all opening day crashes in 2021
Marc Hirschi holds his shoulder after crashing in the opening stage of the 2021 Tour. (Photo by Fred Mons – Pool/Getty Images)
The most infamous opening day crash happened just two years ago with a sign that was seen around the world.
A fan holding a poster meant to say hello to her grandparents — the infamous omi and opi — provoked one of the most horrible high-speed mass crashes in recent Tour history. Riders fell like dominoes as the peloton buckled from the shock of the impact. One rider went down, then 10, then dozens.
Despite the horrific consequences, only three riders crashed out, and one more did not start the next day.
The woman holding the sign later went into hiding as the incident went “viral” across global media. She finally turned herself in to local police after growing pressure. Despite threats of millions of dollars of lawsuits from teams, sponsors, and race organizers, she paid a relatively minor fine.
No word if she’s back at the race this year.