Italian time trial giant Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) became the first rider to join the list of Tour de France abandons in 2025 after the consequences of a mid-stage fall proved too much, with Ganna pulled out of the race some 40 kilometres further on.
Ganna fell heavily on a right-hand bend, reportedly spinning over the bars. After a lengthy period evaluating his injuries and getting a bike change, he opted to continue.
After needing a shoe change because of a damaged cleat, Ganna was visibly struggling, and 40 kilometres further on, he eased up and got into the team car.
Ineos later explained that an initial assessment by the race doctor was carried out according to UCI protocol and Ganna was cleared to continue. He subsequently developed symptoms of concussion and was withdrawn from the race.
Hospital checks were completed and Ganna's condition will be monitored over the coming days.
Ganna's exit is a major blow for Ineos Grenadiers, who had been hoping that the Hour Record holder and former World Time Trial Champion would be a major factor in Wednesday's race against the clock.
With eight stage wins across the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, Ganna had been hoping to complete his Grand Tour 'set' in the Tour this year and had recently conquered the Italian TT title for a sixth time.
Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) crashed not long after Ganna and he also dropped out of the Tour on stage 1.
After a very calm first half of the stage, when the race hit crosswinds and a series of small climbs, the crashes began to multiply and some riders suffered badly in the mixture of splits and technical sections.
One of the most bizarre crashes came on top of the Mont Cassel category 4 ascent, where breakaways Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Mattia Vercher (TotalEnergies) collided shortly after they had reached the summit.
Thomas seemingly skidded on the cobbles, lost control of his bike as he snatched a second KoM point of the day, and so brought down Vercher as he fell.
Other riders dropped or lost contact on a fraught, wind-blasted, chaotic second half of the stage for shorter or longer periods, including Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike), Lenny Martínez (Bahrain Victorious), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlAla) and Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers).
Most could rejoin the peloton, although Martínez visibly struggled, finished last and lost 9:12. Simon Yates needed a bike change and then had a long chase and lost 6:31, ending his hopes of a good GC result alongside team leader Vingegaard.
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