Winners
Mark Cavendish
Two years without winning the first sprint stage of the Tour has been enough for the press to talk of this as some sort of curse. However the Manxman put this to bed, again proving that he doesn’t need to a lead out train to deliver him to the line. A good 40 back and with no team mates in sight entering the final 2.5km, this was a fantastic display of a sprinter’s instinct.
Tom Veelers
With Marcel Kittel suffering from a stomach bug, Argos-Shimano’s number two sprinter was given a chance to shine, and should be more than happy with 4th place, ahead of Sagan, Pettachi and Renshaw among others.
Michael Morkov
150km breakaway for a single point towards the mountains jersey may seem a bit excessive, but the Dane was given an armchair ride by Roux and Kern, preserving his energy for another escape on tomorrow’s stage which includes five categorised climbs.
Fabian Cancellara
Yellow jersey retained, and you can’t ask for much more than that. Should face a tougher test tomorrow with a tricky final 30km where positioning will be key.
Losers
Marcel Kittel
Not the best way to start your first Tour de France, the talented German sprinter spent all day suffering at the back of the peloton with stomach problems, but will undoubtedly be pleased to see lead out man, Tom Veelers put in a good performance. Kittel beat Cavendish twice at the Ster ZLM Tour so expect to see him challenging once the illness is behind him
Tony Martin
Riding with a large cast on his left wrist the time trial world champion appeared to be struggling all day, rolling in over four minutes down alongside Luis Leon Sanchez, one of yesterday’s other crash victims. Whether Martin will continue remains to be seen, but he may be eyeing up next Monday’s time trial if the pain is manageable.
Thomas Voeckler
The only overall contender to lose time today, the Frenchman got caught behind a gap 20 seconds back alongside the likes of Vino, Porte and Vanendert. We’ll have to wait until Saturday to see how that knee is holding up
Student Cyclist 