AFP
Utah Beach, France
Mark Cavendish will wear the coveted yellow jersey for the first time on the Tour de France on Sunday after winning Saturday's opening stage at Utah Beach.
The Manx Missile also closed in on the all-time stage wins record following a bunch sprint in which he timed his run perfectly to dart out from behind world champion Peter Sagan with 100 metres to go at the end of the 188km run from Mont Saint-Michel.
"It's phenomenal. It was my third opportunity, and my first without bad luck. I don't know what to say. We wanted this. The yellow jersey is iconic," said an emotional Cavendish before the presentation ceremony, where he was joined by his young daughter.
It was the 31-year-old Briton's 27th stage win since 2008, putting him just one win behind second-placed Bernard Hinault in the all-time list, where Belgian legend Eddy Merckx remains out in front on 34 victories. German Marcel Kittel took second with Sagan third on a stage that finished at the site of the one of the World War II D-Day landings 70 years ago.
Cavendish will start Sunday's second stage from Saint-Lo to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin wearing the race leader's yellow jersey for the first time in his career. "It's quite emotional, it's been the only kind of jersey I hadn't worn that I could," added Cavendish, a former world champion, green points jersey winner and leader of the Tours of Italy and Spain.
The first stage was not free of drama as two-time former winner Alberto Contador hurt his shoulder in a crash around halfway through the race. The 33-year-old Spaniard came down on a tight right-hand corner when the pace was high in the peloton. He was quickly back on his feet and riding Croatian team-mate Robert Kiserlovski's bike, but his jersey was shredded around his right shoulder. Contador even had to change his right shoe while riding his bike due to damaged caused in his crash and he received attention from the medical car as the race continued.
There was also a crash in the sprint finish as a Katusha's Michael Morkov hit the safety barriers, going down hard and taking several other riders with him. But reigning champion Chris Froome of Britain and fellow favourites Contador and Colombia's Nairo Quintana finished safely in the bunch.
