Tiesj Benoot fears chaos in Tour de France sprint openers

The start of the Tour is notoriously known for its dangers as everyone is motivated and fresh to fight for position in the peloton with huge prizes at stake, such as a stage win and the yellow jersey. Particularly when the route starts with flat stages, the risks are elevated, and riders have to remain cautious and stay focused. Tiesj Benoot highlighted that flat stages are just as tricky as other stages to navigate, and perhaps do not get spoken about as often as the harder terrain stages in the mountains.

'Maybe not much is said about it yet, but it will really be chaos," Benoot said to In de Leiderstrui. "I am a bit scared. In 2021, we started in Brittany, and I actually fear the same scenes. In Brittany, there were 120 men on the ground in those first days, something like that is not good for cycling."

Benoot was also well-balanced in his point of view, acknowledging that sometimes the chaos can be navigated well at the start of a flat Tour, despite potential dangers when the fight for position is relentless. "On the other hand, there were also fears of chaos at the start in Copenhagen, but that was relatively limited. And then there was also a cobblestone stage."

Benoot praised the recent Grand Départs in 2023 and 2024, suggesting that the stages did a good job of lining the race out early, which meant that there was more of a race order established early and the peloton was already thinned out on the tough stages, rather than bunched together with a sprint on the horizon.

"With those starts in the Basque Country and Italy, everyone was already a bit more in their place. I thought that was a very good choice by the organisation, so it is a shame that we are going back to such a flat start," Benoot said.

However, the Belgian rider accepts why the race organisers have opted for a flatter start to proceedings in 2025, with a seemingly fewer amount of opportunities for sprinters in the biggest race. "But I also understand it: the sprinters can go for the yellow jersey and they deserve it."

Navigating the opening stages of the Tour is crucial, as the race is chaotic in its nature to begin with, and Benoot suggests that surviving the first week is a successful achievement in its own right, and a big checklist for the riders and teams. For Benoot and Visma | Lease a Bike, the key will be protecting GC leader Jonas Vingegaard through the opening week.

“It’s mainly about those first three, four, five days. After that, it will slow down again, because everyone is more settled in the peloton. I always say: if you get to the first rest day without crashes, then your Tour is already three-quarters done. Let’s hope."

The recent Critérium du Dauphine served as a dress rehearsal for the Tour, with Benoot's team leader, Jonas Vingegaard, finishing in second behind Tadej Pogačar and the race illustrated how hotly contested the fight for position on every stage will be at the Tour. “We will do everything as a team to be in that safe zone, but everyone does that. You saw it in the Critérium du Dauphiné, where every position was fought for," Benoot said.

Benoot was fair to understand the major opportunity of the opening stage of the Tour for the sprinters, and compared it to the world championships, in the sense that the race rotates between different types of riders of can win it each year. He also highlighted stage 10, on Bastille Day, as a stage where the GC battle could really spark into life.

“Every few years it’s just like that, it’s just like the World Championships: every few years the sprinters also deserve a chance. Mark Cavendish also became world champion, and he’s a great world champion. But now it’s really not much in that first week. Only the stage on Bastille Day is really difficult, that’s day ten. On the other hand, it could also be a great fight for the yellow jersey and so on.“

The team's sporting director, and former professional, Maarten Wynants, also echoed Benoot's thoughts about the need for caution ahead of a tricky start in Lille, with the Tour always throwing up surprises.

"A Tour start like that is often forgotten. There is always something going on in the Tour. I think it can be a bit less in Northern France, with wider roads. But in Brittany and Normandy, it is narrower and therefore more hectic,“ Wynants said. “A sprint stage like that also causes more stress, that’s a given.“

Wynants suggested that the fight for yellow naturally increases the tension and nerves, and this is exemplified with a flat start because there are more fresh riders, who can fight for position and believe in their chances of success. 

"The biggest difference is that a yellow jersey is at stake, which always causes nervousness. Now, everyone can keep dreaming, and there is less of a hierarchy in the peloton. If you start the Tour with two tough stages, then everyone knows their value.“

Wynants also mentioned the role of luck, because the Tour de France can throw surprises up in all shapes and sizes. When the infamous 'Opi Omi' crash happened on the opening stage in 2021, when a spectator held a sign out into the road, which Tony Martin, then of Visma, collided with, a large portion of the peloton came down, including the majority of the (Jumbo) Visma team despite being well positioned.

“You also need some luck, even if you have Wout van Aert. When we were on the ground with the entire team in 2021, we were also riding in the front row. All teams ride with fear, so it’s never easy.“

The opening stage of the 2025 Tour de France kicks off on July 5 in Lille, with a stage that is set for a showdown between the world's best sprinters.

• Edoardo Affini (ITA) (Tour debut)
• Tiesj Benoot (BEL)
• Victor Campenaerts (BEL)
• Matteo Jorgenson (USA)
• Sepp Kuss (USA)
• Wout van Aert (BEL)
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN)
• Simon Yates (GBR)