Tour de France 2017: Geraint Thomas Wins Stage 1, Alejandro Valverde Abandons

Team Sky secured their first yellow jersey of the 2017 Tour de France on Saturday, as Geraint Thomas won the opening time trial in Dusseldorf, Germany.   

Movistar's Alejandro Valverde became the first rider to abandon the race after a crash. Poor weather conditions plagued the stage, with plenty of top contenders hitting the tarmac.

Race favourite Chris Froome gained an advantage over his main rivals, finishing more than 30 seconds ahead of BMC's Richie Porte.

Here's a look at the stage results, via the Inner Ring:

Recap

Saturday's stage was longer than a traditional prologue but shorter than most time trials, and with the rain making the course very dangerous, the top contenders for the general classification had to choose between going for the win and limiting the risks.

The white lines covering the streets of Dusseldorf were particularly slippery, and as shared by ITV Cycling, plenty of rain didn't help matters:

Team Sky impressed early, with Vasil Kiryienka and Michal Kwiatkowski both clocking good times before Thomas and Froome even ventured out on the course. Not to be outdone, Thomas went even faster than Kiryienka, giving Sky three of the top four riders at the time.

Most fans were waiting for the GC contenders to take off, however, with Jakob Fuglsang kicking things off. Valverde crashed, and as shared by Philousports-Yahoo, it was a nasty spill:

The Spanish veteran didn't get up immediately, with Movistar holding their breath, as he's a key setup man for Nairo Quintana. Despite the team's best efforts, they couldn't patch him up, and he became the first rider to abandon.

At the front, stage favourite Tony Martin couldn't beat Thomas' time, and neither could Stefan Kung. Froome went close, but he won't mind giving up the stage win to his team-mate. Porte, Quintana, Alberto Contador and Fabio Aru all lost well over 30 seconds on the defending champion, and Sky's form looks ominous after just a single stage.