Mark Cavendish will wear the Tour de France’s iconic yellow jersey for the first time tomorrow after winning stage one of the race into Utah Beach.
The Manx Missile launched a vicious sprint to pip Marcel Kittel and world champion Peter Sagan on the line at the end of the 188km run from Mont-Saint-Michel.
Coming into the race Cavendish was unsure of his form after spending much of the year training on the track as he looks to win a first Olympic medal in the omnium at Rio.
The break from the road seemed to have done him good though and the 31-year-old, notorious for being a slow starter in Grand Tours, raced past his rivals in the closing 100m with a kick reminiscent of his famous wins on the Champs Elysees in Paris.
The Dimension Data rider now has 27 Tour de France stage wins to his name, one behind Frenchman Bernard Hinault, and will pull on the leader’s yellow jersey for the very first time.
“It was a big goal for Dimension Data to win a stage at the Tour de France. To add the yellow jersey is a reward for our sponsors and for the Qhubeka charity,” said the 2011 world champion and Tour de France green jersey winner.
“I did it for my team, for the ‘kids on bicycle' campaign. I can't believe it. Regardless of who was there, the Tour de France is the Tour de France.
“To win a stage is incredible. I'm very emotional for it. It's going to be a special day tomorrow to ride a stage in yellow. There was no better place to achieve this than Utah Beach where soldiers died for us.”
A five-man breakaway had escaped in the opening kilometre of the race but it was never given free reign by the peloton and they reeled it in with less than five kilometres to go to set up the sprint.
Cavendish was led out by teammates Mark Renshaw and Bernard Eisel to claim victory over the German sprint duo of Kittel and Andre Greipel, who finished second and fourth respectively.
Cavendish’s compatriot and reigning champion Chris Froome finished safely in the pack, who rolled in 33 seconds behind Cavendish following a Katusha rider appearing to clip a barrier and cause a mass pileup behind the bunch sprint in the finishing straight.
Froome’s teammate Geraint Thomas was forced to dismount in the crash but crossed the line safely.
One of Froome’s main rivals for the overall win though, Spaniard Alberto Contador, now faces a battle to regain the title he has also won twice after crashing heavily 107km before the end.
He remounted to finish in 85th place, 55 seconds behind Cavendish, but with a wound on his shoulder that will need treatment.
The riders face a 183km ride from Saint-Lo to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin tomorrow with a tricky third category climb placed just two kilometres from the finish line.
Sportsbeat 2016