A flurry of numbers, statistics, and points of reflection from the first stage of the Tour de France.

10: PHILIPSEN HIGHER IN THE HISTORY BOOKS
Jasper Philipsen becomes the 36th rider to raise his arms 10 times at the Tour de France. He equals the Dutch riders Gerrie Knetemann, Jan Raas and Joop Zoetemelk, the Belgian Walter Godefroot, the Luxembourger Charly Gaul, and the French riders Henri Pelissier, Maurice Archambaud and Antonin Magne.

1771: FINALLY A SPRINTER IN YELLOW
Wearing the yellow jersey was a "dream" for Jasper Philipsen. He is the first sprinter to do so since Alexander Kristoff, 1,771 days ago. The Norwegian opened the 2020 Tour de France by winning in Nice. His compatriot Søren Waerenskjöld almost followed in his footsteps, finishing third today. Since Kristoff's last victory on August 29, 2020, Norway has completed nine stages among the top three.

7: BELGIUM, A SAFE BET
Jasper Philipsen extends Belgium's streak of winning at least one stage since 2019 (7th consecutive edition). This is the 491st victory for Belgium, which has earned the 457th Yellow Jersey. The last was Wout Van Aert during the 2022 Tour, stage 5. And that day, they were also racing in the Nord department, between Lille Métropole and Arenberg!

90: THOMAS AFTER COSNEFROY
Benjamin Thomas is the first French rider to win the polka dot jersey since Benoit Cosnefroy in 2020, 90 stages ago. France had dominated the mountain classification for most of that Tour, thanks to Fabien Grellier (1st stage) and then Cosnefroy (from stage 2 to 16). Cofidis had not held the polka dot jersey since Simon Geschke's performance in 2022 (from stage 9 to 17).

2: GIRMAY STILL MAKING HISTORY
Robbie Hunter was so far the only African rider to wear the white jersey at the Tour, in 2001. The South African is now joined in this sense by Biniam Girmay, who leads the young riders classification after finishing second today.

75: WAERENSKJOLD IS THE FASTEST
At 75.69 km/h, Søren Waerenskjöld reached the maximum speed in the final sprint in Lille. The Norwegian was even faster than Jasper Philipsen (71.46 km/h), without beating him at the finish line!

27: FAST CLIMBERS AND VINGEGAARD...
Today's three Category 4 climbs were all completed at 27 km/h! Benjamin Thomas climbed the Côte de Notre-Dame-de-Lorette at 27.78 km/h, then the Côte de Cassel at 27.27 km/h. Jonas Vingegaard finished the work at Mont Noir at 27.23 km/h. It's the first time in history that the Dane is the first rider to pass on a Category 4 climb!

115: MISFORTUNE FOR GANNA AND ITALY
Filippo Ganna will not complete his second Tour de France. The six-time Italian time trial champion withdrew after 115 kilometers, following a fall at kilometer 52. It's the second consecutive time an Italian opens the withdrawal list, after Michele Gazzoli during stage 1 last year.

1: FIRST TIME FOR ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK
This is the first time the Alpecin-Deceuninck team has achieved the combined victory - Yellow Jersey at the Tour. It has already happened once in a Grand Tour, during the 2022 Giro d'Italia (Mathieu Van der Poel). The Belgian team has also obtained its 12th victory at the Tour de France: 2 with Van der Poel and Merlier in 2021, 10 with Philipsen since 2022.

5449: MORE AND MORE!
49 of the 184 riders this morning started their first Tour de France. There are now 5,449 cyclists who have participated in the race since its first edition in July 1903.

3: PHILIPSEN VS GIRMAY
This is the third time Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay have finished 1st and 2nd in a Tour stage. Last year, the Eritrean won in front of the Belgian at Colombey-les-deux-Églises (stage 8). Philipsen took his revenge by beating Girmay at Saint-Amand-Montrond (stage 10). The two men are also the last two green jersey winners, in 2023 for Philipsen and in 2024 for Girmay.