Mark Cavendish of Dimension Data has won the opening stage of the 103rd Tour De France at Utah Beach.
Normandy hosted the Grand Depart and did it well with many sections of the community getting involved with things such as zumba dancing in the town square in Saint Lo which hosted the media centre amid tight security.
198 riders from twenty two teams including any eight British riders plus Irishmen Dan Martin and Sam Bennett of Bora Argon 18, who presented journalists with a new showerhead thanks to their new sponsor Hansgrohe, started the 188km stage on Mont-Saint-Michel heading for Utah Beach / Sainte-Marie-Du-Mont
The rain over the last few days had ceased for a bit and there was some sunshine as the flag dropped and the riders set off with Jan Barta and Paul Voss of Bora-Argon and Leigh Howard of Orica GreenEdge the first to break.
Voss got away and took the points in the Cote d'Avranches climb and with 28kms gone, he had a lead of forty seconds over Barta and Howard who were joined by Alex Howes and Anthony Delaplace.
Big crowds saw the race go through Granville and into the final one hundred kilometres of the stage, their lead was at 2.15.
With 53kms left, Barta and Howard were caught and Delaplace and Howes stayed away taking a 24 second game into the last thirty five kilometres.
They lkept pushing slightly extending their lead, despite riding into a headwind.
With five kilometres left, Howes and Delaplace were ten seconds ahead of a peloton whose speeds were nudging 60kph.
The duo were caught half a kilometre later and the sprint trains started to make their moves with Dimension Data bringing up Mark Cavendish who powered away to take the victory and put himself in the yellow jersey.