Mark Cavendish has won the opening stage of the 2016 Tour de France
The Isle of Man rider won the bunch sprint at the end of the opening 188km stage from Mont Saint-Michel to Utah Beach, Sainte-Marie-du-Mont to take the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.
Cavendish, now riding for Team Dimension Data, finished ahead of Marcel Kittel and last year's green jersey winner Peter Sagan. The win is Cavendish's first on the Tour since Stage 7 of the 2015 race.
🔥🔥 Le Cav est en feu ! / The Cav is on fire ! 🔥🔥 #TDF2016 pic.twitter.com/wUfLp58wvC
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 2, 2016
Sam Bennett's future in the race is already uncertain in the race. The Carrick-on-Suir native crashed inside the final kilometre of the stage and finished over two minutes behind Cavendish.
Pre-race favourites Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana finished inside the top 50, while former champion Alberto Contador also suffered a crash in the middle of the stage.
The second stage of the Tour will see the riders travel the 182km from Saint-Lô to Cherbourg-Octeville on Sunday.
👨👩👦👦👨👩👦👦👨👩👦👦👨👩👦👦👨👩👦👦 #TDF2016 pic.twitter.com/EoAGezyLPq
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 2, 2016
