Froome hits the deck
The first stage on French soil started on the beaches of Le Touquet without 2010 Tour champion Andy Schleck (TFR), taken out of commission by a ligament injury caused by a fall sustained in the approach to London the day before. Defending champion Chris Froome also got a taste of tarmac a few kilometres into the stage after being dragged into a fall which also involved Bauke Mollema (BEL) and Spanish champion Jon Izaguirre (MOV). Race number 1 made his way back to the peloton with a bruised right side, a scare and a few scratches.
Lemoine keeps his treasure
The Brit's misery was a boon for the two attackers, whose lead had ballooned to 3′30″ by kilometre 50. Further back, Marcel Kittel's Giant-Shimano and André Greipel's Lotto-Belisol organised the chase while a side wind sapped the breakaways' strength. Maté took advantage of the race situation to grab the points at the top of the first category 4 climb in defence of teammate Cyril Lemoine's polka-dot jersey.
The peloton splits
Today's intermediate sprint was contested in Cassel, the scene of Thomas Voeckler's win at the 2011 Four Days of Dunkirk. The Frenchman took it ahead of Maté, with Peter Sagan (CAN) coming in third to add 15 green jersey points to his tally. After the sprint, the Slovak's teammates joined forces with Lotto to force a split. Riders like Michał Kwiatkowski (OPQ) and Joaquim Rodríguez (KAT) were caught unawares but eventually managed to claw their way back.
The Lotto train derails
This whole affair pushed Thomas Voeckler's gap to 1′30″ at the top of the Mont Noir and extended his daring solo adventure. However, the chasers regrouped and the Frenchman's lead dwindled to just twenty seconds as he got out of Armentières, 30 km before the line. Calamity struck when three of André Greipel's Lotto-Belisol teammates crashed and Kiwi Greg Henderson was forced to leave the race. Thomas Voeckler's adventure came to an end in the outskirts of Lille with 16 km to go.
Kittel pushed to the limit
A series of incidents, including Peter Sagan's fall 15 km before the line, messed up the final sprint. When Alberto Contador and Andrew Talansky's teammates moved to the front to keep their leaders out of harm's way, Katusha seized the opportunity to set up Milan – San Remo winner Alexander Kristoff. Marcel Kittel was forced to use up all of his gunpowder to forge ahead and clinch his seventh Tour stage win in two years.
