German
Marcel Kittel won the first stage of the Tour de France, which is being held in
England for the first time since 2007. Local favorite Mark Cavendish crashed at
the finish.
Deutsche Welle, 5 July 2014
On
Saturday, the 198 competitors in this year's Tour de France started their
grueling three-week ride through four countries. Among them was 42-year-old
German Jens Voigt taking on his record 17th ride.
By the end
of the day, German Marcel Kittel had claimed the first yellow jersey of the
tour, comfortably holding off Slovakian Peter Sagan. Kittel won four stages in
last year's competition and has now twice claimed the yellow jersey.
"It's
unbelievable I've won stage one again. I had good legs today and my guys did an
excellent job," said Kittel afterwards.
The day ended
traumatically for local lad Mark Cavendish though.
Cavendish,
cycling in his mother's home town of Harrogate, seemed too eager to succeed in
the closing stages and collided with Australian Simon Gerrans and both riders
tumbled.
The moment Cavendish and Gerrans took a tumble, with the former heading to hospital |
After being
helped by the race doctor, Cavendish crossed the finish line with his right arm
folded and clearly in pain, before he left in an ambulance shortly afterwards.
Busy start
in excited countryside
The
190.5-kilometer (118.4-mile) Stage 1 took the pack on a wide tour of the
bucolic English countryside from Leeds to Harrogate in Yorkshire, England - a
layout tailor-made for sprinters.
A three-man
breakaway got out early, including two Frenchmen, Benoit Jarrier and Nicolas
Edet, and Germany's Jens Voigt, the oldest rider in the pack this year, who
established a three-minute lead after 35 kilometers.
And
although the peloton weren't far behind, Voigt did eventually make a move - one
that earned the 42-year-old the polka dot jersey for the mountain
classification.
The stage
was no walk in the park and several riders, including Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez
and top French hope Thibaut Pinot, were caught off guard when the peloton
split.
They made
it back to the bunch who were slowed by the big crowds on some narrow roads.
Defending
champion Chris Froome of Britain was sixth, although Team Sky chief Dave
Brailsford will be trying to shepherd Froome to glory in Paris later this
month.
Brailsford
said the excitement in Leeds was extra special for Britain's home team.
"To
have the Tour here is incredible for us considering where we were just a short
time ago," said Brailsford. "We need to remain focused and dialed,
but we will take it in and enjoy it."
The Duchess
of Cambridge cut the race ribbon at the start of the leg, under the watchful
eye of her husband Prince William and his brother Prince Harry.
Sunday's
second stage is a 201-km ride between York and Sheffield with some two million
spectators expected along the route.
In all, the
riders will cover 3,664 kilometers (2,277 miles) of roads in England, France,
Belgium and Spain.
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