Day 1 of the 103rd edition of Tour De France came to an end today, as Mark Cavendish of UCI ProTeam Team Dimension Data won stage 1 of the race. The British cyclist who is widely considered as one of the best sprinters of his era outclassed favorites Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittle in a sprint finish. It was his 27th Tour de France stage win, and he claimed the yellow jersey for the first time in his career in the process.
Cavendish finished ahead of Marcel Kittel of Etixx-Quickstep and Peter Sagan of Tinkoff, having come off the Slovak world champion’s wheel in the final 100 metres of the races to secure the win. "To pull on the yellow jersey is an honour," said Cavendish. Kittel and Greipel were obviously not expecting such a challenging display of grit and skills from Cavendish and ended up biting the dust. Alberto Contador also had a tough day, as he fell hard midway through the race but recovered to finish with the rest of the contenders.
Also Read: Contador crashes in Tour de France first stage
On finally claiming the yellow jersey, Cavendish had to say: “It’s phenomenal... it’s the third opportunity, the first without bad luck. It was a big goal, we came here with the aim of doing this for Dimension Data. There’s no bigger stage in cycling than the yellow jersey.” On finally being able to beat Marcel Kittel in a sprint finish, he said “Regardless of who’s there, to win a stage is incredible. To pull on the yellow jersey is incredible, and what a place to do it [Utah Beach]. I feel a bit emotional”
Cavendish finished with a timing of 4:13:55. Kittel finished second behind him with a timing of 4:13:59. Sagan came third clocking 4:14:01 whereas Greipel finished fourth with a timing of 4:14:05. This will be another step in the rise of Africa’s Dimension Data team too, as adding Cavendish’s yellow jersey and another stage win will only build on their performance in 2015, which was a breakthrough year for them.
| Position | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Points |
| 1 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data | 4:13:55 | 56 |
| 2 | Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step | 4:13:59 | 40 |
| 3 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team | 4:14:01 | 29 |
| 4 | André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal | 4:14:05 | 29 |
