CyclistNine of the best moments from the Tour de France 2024Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates) reclaimed the yellow jersey that has eluded him for the last two years at the 2024 Tour de France, winning six stages in total, finishing 6min 17sec ahead of nearest rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and completing the famed Giro-Tour double.Despite not being able to reclaim his crown, Vingegaard still had a mightily impressive Tour considering his horrific crash at the Itzulia Basque Country race earlier in the season. He held onto the podium second spot and won a stage in dramatic fashion. Tour debutant Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) completed the podium, also winning a stage and becoming the first Belgian to take home the best young riders jersey.But beyond the fight for the GC, this years Tour de France threw up numerous historical firsts, exciting tales and heart-stopping moments. Here are nine of our favourites.Stage 1: A daring duo breakaway thrusts Romain Bardet into yellowA.S.O./Billy CeustersThe Tour de France began with a bang as the peloton departed Florence for Rimini, the first Grand Dpart in Italy in the races history. Frank van den Broek (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) made his way into the days breakaway on his debut and was later joined by teammate Romain Bardet the fan-favourite Frenchman riding in his home race for the last time after the latters attack from the peloton on the Cte de San Leo.Bardet was dreaming of his first yellow jersey after having competed in 196 stages, but as the duo rode together the final kilometres, it looked like that dream could be cruelly snatched away by a marauding peloton. Thanks greatly to Van den Broeks efforts, the pair managed to hold off the pack by just a few metres, with Bardet crossing the line first, pointing at his heroic teammate. It was the perfect start for France, and as Bardet pulled on the maillot jaune he described it as the ultimate dream. Related Posts The 21 best photos from the Tour de France 2024 Who won the most prize money at the 2024 Tour de France? How to fix the Tour de France King of the Mountains classification Is this the end of Tour de France breakaways? Stage 3: Biniam Girmay makes historyA.S.O./Charly LopezFirst he made history, then he did it again and again. Biniam Girmay (Intermarch-Wanty) won Stage 3s sprint finish in Turin, sending his home nation of Eritrea into jubilation. He had become the first Black rider and first Eritrean to win a stage at the Tour, but it wasnt to end there.In the form of his life, Girmay then took sprint victories on Stages 8 and 12, putting himself into the green points jersey at the same time another first. And he held the jersey all the way to the finish, despite an almost costly crash on Stage 16 the final sprint stage of the Tour and seeing off stiff competition from Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in the process. Stepping onto the podium at the end of the race, Girmay was draped in the Eritrean flag as he also became the first African and first Black rider to win the green jersey. Stage 5: Mark Cavendish wins record-breaking #35A.S.O./Charly LopezThe Tour de France could not have begun any worse for Mark Cavendish. On Stage 1s hilly parcours, and in sweltering temperatures, he was quickly dropped while vomiting on the bike. He was shepherded to the finish by his teammates and managed to make the time cut, but questions swirled as to whether he would be able to continue at all, let alone contest for victories.Just last year, he had abandoned the Tour with a broken collarbone. He then delayed retirement to re-sign for Astana Qazaqstan to have another shot at breaking the Tour de France stage wins record he shared with Eddy Merckx. Many thought he simply didnt have the speed to compete with younger sprinters, but he wouldnt give up.Having just about recovered from Stage 1, Cavendishs first sprint opportunity came on Stage 3, where he finished unscathed but ultimately unsuccessful. His next chance came on Stage 5, a 177km day from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas. Astana Qazaqstan were present in the final kilometres but became separated under the flamme rouge.Cavendish went solo, latching onto the wheel of Philipsen before swooping behind Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech). He launched his sprint in the final 150m and no one could come close. To rapturous cheers, he roared across the line with his arms spread, and when he finally came to a halt swathes of riders queued up to congratulate him.Finally he had done it, and now stands alone as the rider with the most stage victories in Tour history.Stage 7: Julien Bernard damages image of cycling, would do it again @JulienBernard17 on home roads! @JulienBernard17 la maison !#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/I42jlmEc7e Tour de France (@LeTour) July 5, 2024 >/div>It must be a dream for pro cyclists the chance to race on home roads and see your family and friends out supporting you in the biggest race on the calendar. For Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), thats exactly what happened during the Stage 7 individual time-trial. As he rode through a mass of supporters holding up T-shirts and posters with his face on, he stopped to kiss his wife and child before continuing on his way.After the stage, it was revealed Bernard was fined 200 Swiss francs (approx 174) for unseemly or inappropriate behaviour during the race and damage to the image of the sport. Bernard responded on social media by apologising, but saying he would pay the fine every day to experience that moment again.Stage 9: Gravel stage chaosA.S.O./Charly LopezGravel is a divisive subject in Grand Tours. However, its inclusion on Stage 9 certainly produced one of the most entertaining days of racing. Splits formed, riders were forced to run with their bikes, and some were forced to stand still as bottlenecks formed heading into secteurs. Primo Rogli (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was dropped. Vingegaard spent half the day on teammate Jan Tratniks bike. Evenepoel tried to attack and Pogaar countered. It was utter chaos.A day of brutal fighting on the gravel roads ended with TotalEnergies Anthony Turgis winning. It was brilliant.Stage 11: Jonas Vingegaard out-sprints Tadej PogaarA.S.O./Billy CeustersHeading into the Massif Central on a day backloaded with climbs, Pogaar attacked towards the summit of the Col de Pertus and looked for a while as if he would simply soar to an easy stage victory. Vingegaard and Rogli initially teamed up to chase him down as Evenepoel lost some time, but eventually the Dane shed Rogli and slowly began to reel in Pogaar. You could almost hear the Jaws music in the background, building to its crescendo as the fisherman slowly closed in and made the catch.Just months after his horrendous crash at the Itzulia Basque Country, Vingegaard wound up to sprint against Pogaar at the finish as the heavy underdog, with Pogaar typically the best in two-up sprints. However Vingegaard refused to be passed, cementing his stage victory with a bike throw. What a comeback.Stage 17: Richard Carapaz completes Grand Tour setA.S.O./Charly LopezIt was a race for making history. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) became the first Ecuadorian to win an individual Tour de France stage on the summit finish on SuperDvoluy. He bridged across to leader Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) on the penultimate climb and promptly left him behind. Carapaz, who will not be at the Olympics to defend his road race gold medal, won the stage and completed his set of stage victories at all three Grand Tours. On Stage 20, Carapaz, now in the polka dot jersey, made sure to be at the front for two of the climbs, taking maximum points to gain an unassailable lead in the mountains classification another moment of history for his nation. He won the Tours overall most combative rider prize too.Stage 18: Blue skies for Victor CampenaertsTim de Waele via GettyA memorable win and an interview for the ages. Its easy to describe Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) as a fan favourite his big personality, his humour, his ease in front of the camera (and daily vlogs). He had labelled Stage 18 as a target for months, its hilly parcours too much for sprinters but not too tough as to form any major gaps on general classification.He managed to form a breakaway trio with Micha Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) and Matto Vercher (TotalEnergies), and when they arrived together in the final few hundred metres it was Vercher who kicked first and Kwiatkowski who brought them back together. Campenaerts launched his sprint from the back in the last 200m, his head bobbing and weaving with his efforts, and he crossed the line first, mouth wide in amazement.It wasnt only his victory that became a standout moment, but his celebration and interview afterwards. He immediately asked for someone to call his girlfriend and she soon appeared on video call with their young child. Campenaerts voice cracked saying that he had won, and he simply said his sons name over and over: Gustaaf GustaafWinning a stage in the Tour de France is everybodys dream, he said in his post-race interview. Im not a neo-pro, Ive been dreaming about this for a very long time. After the Classics, I had a verbal agreement with the team about extending the contract. I got ignored for a long time. It was very difficult.My girlfriend was there [at altitude camp]. She supported me every day, highly pregnant. The support I have [from her] is incredible. Shes always there for me. She gave birth to our son at the bottom of the climb. She is the hero in this story. I have a bright future I became a father it was like blue skies. Only blue skies. I started to feel very good on the bike.Stage 21: Tadej Pogaar becomes first man in 26 years to complete Giro-Tour doubleA.S.O./Billy CeustersWith decisive victories at both the Giro dItalia and Tour de France this year, Pogaar became the first man to complete the Giro-Tour double since Marco Pantani in 1998. The Slovenian won six stages at both Grand Tours and finished with a dramatic flourish by crushing everyone on the Stage 21 time-trial in Nice.His winning margin at the Tour was 6min 17sec, while at the Giro it was 9min 56sec. Such was his dominance that he wore the pink jersey at the Giro for 20 days out of 21, and yellow at the Tour for 19 days out of 21. Only three other riders have worn a Grand Tour leaders jersey at all this season, each of them for one day only.Pogaars double marks another historic moment for the 2024 Tour and lays the foundation for a mouth-watering rematch with a fully fit Vingegaard next year. Related Posts The 21 best photos from the Tour de France 2024 Who won the most prize money at the 2024 Tour de France? How to fix the Tour de France King of the Mountains classification Is this the end of Tour de France breakaways? The post Nine of the best moments from the Tour de France 2024 appeared first on Cyclist.