Romain Bardet, who took his fourth Tour de France stage win and first Tour de France maillot jaune, called the first stage run by himself and teammate Frank van den Broeck "pure cycling.

The DSM-Filmenig-Post NL pair held off a chase group in Rimini to complete a one-two on the hilly 206km stage. Vandenbroucke raced in a breakaway group from the first 20km, and Bardet set it up when the early group was breaking up, 50km from the finish.

Frenchman Bardet, who will be racing his final Tour de France before switching to gravel next summer, led the pack with Van den Broeck, Valentin Maduas (Groupama-FDJ), and mountains winner Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), and the DSM pair pushed alone to the finish The DSM pair pushed on alone to the finish.

"It was pure cycling," Bardet, wearing the yellow jersey, said at the post-race press conference. We just rode our bikes as two friends, gave it our all, and got through the pain."

"We knew the last 15km would be tough, but as we got further and further ahead we got more and more confident."

Bardet, a veteran on his 11th Tour, and Vandenbroucke, a first-time neo-pro, rode the last 25km of the day's final climb in the small province of San Marino with a nearly 2-minute lead over the peloton behind them.

The bunch was led by UAE Team Emirates, but Visma Reese A Bikes and Lidl Trek took their place and gradually pulled away from the escape group for a spectacular finale on the Adriatic coast.

Eventually, Bardet and Vandenbroucke went down the flamme rouge with a 10-second lead.

The two crossed the finish line pointing at each other, and the teamwork and togetherness on the Lungomare Giuseppe di Vittorio would have made the famous Italian trade union leader proud.

"I keep looking back and seeing the peloton coming, but I don't have time to think about anything. We have to give it our all," said Balde. Valde said, "This is all we could do today. I say 'we' because he won as much as I did. It's the way we wanted to race here."

Bardet said that he, Vandenbrouck, and Warren Barguil were the three DSM riders allowed to fight in the breakaway group on the opening stage.

Bardet praised his young Dutch teammates. Bardet said that even though the early breakaway group was leading the race, he was left with enough energy to hang on in the final run to the finish.

"It was the first day of his first Tour de France and he was one of three, along with Warren and I, that were allowed to be in the breakaway today.

"It was crazy that he was the strongest from the first break and it was confirmation that he could make it to the finish. I don't think we could have done it without him.

Bardet spent about 140 km less on the attack than Vandenbroucke, but in his own words, he followed his instincts and chose his timing precisely.

"The unthinkable scenario came true," Bardet said. "I followed my instincts and attacked. When I attack, I race from the heart and I have to conclude that the race that follows my instincts will work out."

"I was not the only one who attacked," Bardet said, "but I was the one who attacked.