Tom Dumoulin and Luke Rowe criticized Astana after the finish of the first stage of the Tour de France, but the Kazakhstan team later claimed it was all a misunderstanding.

Heavy rain, a winding route, and copious road markings made the start of the 2020 Tour treacherous, and the peloton, led by Tony Martin (Jumbo-Visma), chose to effectively nullify the race on its own accord with less than 50 km to go.

On the uphill climb to Aspermont, the body language of the Astana group near the front of the pack suggested that they did not fully agree with the cessation of hostilities.

With Omar Freire in the lead, the sky blue jerseys consolidated at the front of the descent.

A few minutes later, however, Astana team leader Miguel Angel Lopez locked his rear wheel in a corner and skidded off the road. The Colombian dexterously kept himself upright until he hit a roadside sign and came to a stop. Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma) waved and reprimanded Freire for slowing down.

"I didn't want to accelerate. It was very dangerous. If I touched the brakes, I would hit the ground," Freire said after the race, while sports manager Dmitry Fofonov also stressed that the team had not come to the front to break the overall truce agreement, but simply as a precaution.

"There were a lot of crashes, so I advised the team to go to the front to avoid crashes and to go downhill at our pace," Fofonov said.

In these conditions, it is easier said than done. On such a slippery surface, crashes seem to happen at any speed, as Fraile said, "It's like driving on soap. George Bennett (Jumbo Visma) crashed while descending at an almost walking pace, and many others, including Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), and Julien Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) collapsed in high-speed crashes.

Lopez, on the other hand, rejoined the peloton soon after the crash. Although he crashed again with 3 km to go, Lopez, who was making his Tour debut, said he suffered no lasting effects from the crash.

"There were a lot of crashes, and the route was a bit dangerous with tricky descents and painted surfaces. There was also a lot of tension because of the rain. As a result, almost everyone ended up on the ground," Lopez said after the race.

"I fell too, but fortunately it wasn't serious enough to complain about. I hit a road sign, but luckily I made it to the finish. Tomorrow we have another difficult stage, so I want to recover as much as possible."

Freire, Lopez, Ion Izagirre, and Haroldo Tejada were involved in a crash that split the peloton in the last 3km. However, no one was seriously injured in the accident. The jury had already decided that due to the conditions, the overall standings would be decided with 3 km to go.

"There was another crash 3km from the finish, but the riders seem to be OK," Fofonov said. 'Hopefully tomorrow we will be blessed with good weather.'

Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) will carry the maillot jaune into Sunday's second stage. The Col de la Colmiane and Col de Tourini climbs will be the meeting point for Lopez and his GC contenders.