The 177.3 km opener from Lagny-le-Sec to Laon was decided on a 2,000 m finishing climb averaging just over 4%, ridden twice on a 10 km closing circuit. A large front group reached the decisive ramp together, with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe's Callum Thornley doing the hard work to control the run-in for his leader. In the uphill drag Laurence Pithie picked the right wheel and the perfect line through the looping finale, punching clear to win ahead of Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Lewis Askey (NSN). It was Pithie's second win in four days after Rund um Köln, and it handed him the pink, points and young-rider jerseys on day one.

Thanks to the time bonus on the line, Pithie led the GC after Stage 1 by four seconds over Coquard, with Askey third at +6s. Cofidis led the teams classification and Victor Papon (Nice Métropole) took the early mountains lead. The gaps were tiny, setting up a week-long battle for bonus seconds and the cobbles.