Paul Voss takes the first polka dot jersey
198 riders started stage 1 of the 103rd Tour de France in front of the Mont-Saint-Michel. Leigh Howard (IAM Cycling) was the first attacker, followed by Jan Barta and Paul Voss (Bora-Argon 18). The latter rode away to take the two points up for grab in the King of the Mountains competition at Avranches (km 20) and falaise de Champeaux (km 39). At 40km, a group of five leaders was composed with the addition of two chasers, Anthony Delaplace (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) and Alex Howes (Cannondale-Drapac). The biggest deficit of the peloton was 4.30 after 30km of racing. Belgian riders Julien Vermote of Etixx-Quick Step and Thomas De Gendt from Lotto-Soudal led the peloton to set the pace and maintain the gap around three minutes for their respective sprinter Marcel Kittel and André Greipel.
Contador crashes at km 107
87km before the end, crosswinds inclined a few teams, namely Cannondale-Drapac, Movistar and Etixx-Quick Step. Several riders were dropped, including Domenico Pozzovivo, Thomas Voeckler, Ruben Plaza, Daniel Teklehaimanot, Natnael Berhane, Nicolas Edet... They got back on after Alberto Contador crashed six kilometers further and the peloton slowed down. It helped the leading riders to contest the intermediate sprint without being caught too early. Only Voss was brought back with 75km to go. Contador rejoined the peloton and called the medical car for assistance. 57km before the end, Delaplace accelerated. Only Howes managed to follow him. The leading duo stayed away until 4.5km to go.
Cavendish in yellow
Several teams led their sprinter out. Katusha seemed to have it for Alexander Kristoff but Bernhard Eisel and Mark Renshaw put Cavendish in the right position just behind world champion Peter Sagan who opened the sprint. The Dimension Data rider proved that his famous speed doesn't belong to the past. After taking his 27th victory at the Tour de France, he'll ride stage 2 in yellow, a first in his brilliant career.
