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Chris Froome in dramatic crash on 1st Tour de France stage

Fontenay-le-Comte - Chris Froome's bid for a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title got off to a shaky start Saturday after a dramatic crash left him trailing first stage winner Fernando Gaviria by over one minute.

With just 6km to the finish, Froome went flying over a barrier and landed on a grassy verge, emerging seemingly unhurt as the peloton sped off to a frenetic sprint where Quick Step's Gaviria edged Peter Sagan and Marcel Kittel to don the yellow jersey.

Froome, fellow Briton Adam Yates and Australian Richie Porte, all pre-Tour favourites, all lost valuable seconds having been caught in a series of falls and flat tyres over the final 10km of the 201km opening stage.

For Colombian Nairo Quintana it was even worse, the Movistar man who is twice a Tour runner-up got a flat tyre 400m from the 3km cut off line and had he just carried on would have lost no time but changed his wheel and ended up losing 1min 10sec.

Meanwhile former Sky man Mikel Landa, the wily 2014 champion Vincenzo Nibali, the great French hope Romain Bardet and 2017 Giro champion Tom Dumoulin all finished in the main bunch having gained an unexpected early advantage over their key rivals that blows the Tour wide open.

Froome expressed both relief and his usual quiet confidence after the race.

"We knew the first days were going to be tricky, what happened is part of the game," said the 33-year-old who had a skinned knee and some possible bruising on his right shoulder after his head over heels fall.

"It was getting quite chaotic up at the front with the sprinters getting into position.

"There wasn't much the team could have done for me," he said after being accompanied across the line by Luke Rowe.

"I'm just relieved that I'm not injured."

Froome, who fell heavily before the Giro d'Italia prologue but rallied two weeks later to two spectacular stage wins that won him the Tour, added: "There's still a great deal of road on the way to Paris."

Froome's teammate Egan Bernal, the youngest rider on the race also fell, albeit in an earlier incident than Froome's and came home alongside his compatriot Nairo Quintanata at 1min 15sec.

Gaviria was left thrilled after his impressive stage win on his very first Tour de France, achieved after he outlasted world champion Sagan in a long struggle down an 800m home straight with Kittel, who won four stages on the 2017 Tour, leaving his bid too late and coming third.

"I just said to myself 'go' and had the legs luckily," Gaviria said.

"What an amazing day, nobody is happier than me.

"The team did amazing. Tomorrow I'll be in yellow and try and keep it as long as possible."

The Colombian added: "I don't know about keeping the yellow jersey because of the mountains, but I plan to fight for the green jersey (sprint points) all the way to Paris."

Former green jersey winner Thor Hushovd, here working for Norwegian television, suggested that Kittel and Dylan Groenewgen were the key sprinters to watch out for this year.

On a sunny Saturday early in the school holidays, enormous crowds of fans packed the seaside towns along the Atlantic coast in a highly festive atmosphere where any expected fallout from the Froome booing on Thursday was muted, with AFP seeing just two signs along the roadside targeting him with messages of 'Froome go home' and 'Froome the doper'.

Results from the 1st stage of Tour de France, a 201.0km ride from Noirmoutier-en-l'ile to Fontenay-le-Comte on Saturday:

1. Fernando Gaviria (COL/QST) 201.0km in 4hr 23min 32sec

2. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR) at 0sec.

3. Marcel Kittel (GER/KAT) 0.

4. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/EAU) 0.

5. Christophe Laporte (FRA/COF) 0.

6. Dylan Groenewegen (NED/LNL) 0.

7. Michael Matthews (AUS/SUN) 0.

8. John Degenkolb (GER/TRE) 0.

9. Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (DEN/AST) 0.

10. Rafal Majka (POL/BOR) 0.

11. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/BAH) 0.

12. Timothy Dupont (BEL/AJW) 0.

13. Thomas Boudat (FRA/DEN) 0.

14. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 0.

15. Bob Jungels (LUX/QST) 0.

16. Michael Andersen (DEN/AST) 0.

17. Maximiliano Richeze (ARG/QST) 0.

18. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/QST) 0.

19. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/DDT) 0.

20. Sonny Colbrelli (ITA/BAH) 0.

21. Jasper Stuyven (BEL/TRE) 0.

22. Andrea Pasqualon (ITA/AJW) 0.

23. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/QST) 0.

24. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) 0.

25. Dmitriy Gruzdev (KAZ/AST) 0.

26. Andre Greipel (GER/LOT) 0.

27. Tom Dumoulin (NED/SUN) 0.

28. Warren Barguil (FRA/FST) 0.

29. Tiesj Benoot (BEL/LOT) 0.

30. Kristjan Koren (SLO/BAH) 0.

31. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/AST) 0.

32. Mikel Landa (ESP/MOV) 0.

33. Yves Lampaert (BEL/QST) 0.

34. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 0.

35. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA/DDT) 0.

36. Mark Cavendish (GBR/DDT) 0.

37. Oliver Naesen (BEL/ALM) 0.

38. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 0.

39. Rick Zabel (GER/KAT) 0.

40. Bauke Mollema (NED/TRE) 0.

41. Rudy Molard (FRA/FDJ) 0.

42. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/LNL) 0.

43. Ilnur Zakarin (RUS/KAT) 0.

44. Rigoberto Uran (COL/EFD) 0.

45. Daniel Oss (ITA/BOR) 0.

46. Lilian Calmejane (FRA/DEN) 0.

47. Julien Simon (FRA/COF) 0.

48. Anthony Turgis (FRA/COF) 0.

49. Dion Smith (NZL/AJW) 0.

50. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/BAH) 0.

51. Nils Politt (GER/KAT) 0.

52. Daniel Martin (IRL/EAU) 0.

53. Laurent Pichon (FRA/FST) 0.

54. Primoz Roglic (SLO/LNL) 0.

55. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC) 0.

56. Taylor Phinney (USA/EFD) 0.

57. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/DEN) 0.

58. Romain Hardy (FRA/FST) 0.

59. Ramon Sinkeldam (NED/FDJ) 0.

60. Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN/SUN) 0.

61. Marcel Sieberg (GER/LOT) 0.

62. Jens Keukeleire (BEL/LOT) 0.

63. Edward Theuns (BEL/SUN) 0.

64. Heinrich Haussler (AUS/BAH) at 22sec.

65. Axel Domont (FRA/ALM) 24.

66. Toms Skujins (LAT/TRE) 24.

67. Oliviero Troia (ITA/EAU) 32.

68. Niki Terpstra (NED/QST) 33.

69. Timo Roosen (NED/LNL) 34.

70. Tom Scully (NZL/EFD) 34.

71. Pavel Kochetkov (RUS/KAT) 40.

72. Omar Fraile (ESP/AST) 42.

73. Julien Vermote (BEL/DDT) 42.

74. Magnus Nielsen (DEN/AST) 42.

75. Florian Vachon (FRA/FST) 42.

76. Marcus Burghardt (GER/BOR) 42.

77. Maciej Bodnar (POL/BOR) 42.

78. Amal Moinard (FRA/FST) 42.

79. Lukas Poestlberger (AUT/BOR) 42.

80. Michael Gogl (AUT/TRE) 42.

81. Simon Clarke (AUS/EFD) 42.

82. Marco Marcato (ITA/EAU) 42.

83. Richie Porte (AUS/BMC) 51.

84. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) 51.

85. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EFD) 51.

86. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 51.

87. Marco Minnaard (NED/AJW) 51.

88. Jon Izagirre (ESP/BAH) 51.

89. Antwan Tolhoek (NED/LNL) 51.

90. Koen de Kort (NED/TRE) 51.

91. Christopher Froome (GBR/SKY) 51.

92. Julien Bernard (FRA/TRE) 51.

93. Laurens ten Dam (NED/SUN) 51.

94. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA/BAH) 51.

95. Rein Taaramae (EST/DEN) 51.

96. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO/KAT) 51.

97. Tanel Kangert (EST/AST) 51.

98. Darwin Atapuma (COL/EAU) 51.

99. Kristijan Durasek (CRO/EAU) 51.

100. Maxime Bouet (FRA/FST) 51.

101. Nicolas Edet (FRA/COF) 51.

102. Daryl Impey (RSA/MIT) 51.

103. Guillaume Martin (FRA/AJW) 51.

104. Roberto Ferrari (ITA/EAU) 1:02.

105. Serge Pauwels (BEL/DDT) 1:04.

106. Mark Renshaw (AUS/DDT) 1:04.

107. Mathias Frank (SUI/ALM) 1:04.

108. Thomas Degand (BEL/AJW) 1:12.

109. Romain Sicard (FRA/DEN) 1:12.

110. Mikel Nieve (ESP/MIT) 1:14.

111. Audrey Amador (CRC/MOV) 1:15.

112. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 1:15.

113. Egan Bernal (COL/SKY) 1:15.

114. Daniele Bennati (ITA/MOV) 1:17.

115. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL/AJW) 1:18.

116. Nikias Arndt (GER/SUN) 1:18.

117. Paul Martens (GER/LNL) 1:18.

118. Amund Grondahl Jansen (NOR/LNL) 1:18.

119. Jrme Cousin (FRA/DEN) 1:18.

120. Simon Geschke (GER/SUN) 1:22.

121. Dimitri Claeys (BEL/COF) 1:22.

122. Michael Schr (SUI/BMC) 1:27.

123. Elie Gesbert (FRA/FST) 1:27.

124. Gregor Mhlberger (AUT/BOR) 1:30.

125. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/FDJ) 1:30.

126. Chad Haga (USA/SUN) 1:30.

127. Gianni Moscon (ITA/SKY) 1:38.

128. Imanol Erviti (ESP/MOV) 1:52.

129. Tony Martin (GER/KAT) 2:00.

130. Pierre-Roger Latour (FRA/ALM) 2:11.

131. Thomas De Gendt (BEL/LOT) 2:16.

132. Alexis Vuillermoz (FRA/ALM) 2:16.

133. Daniel Martnez (COL/EFD) 2:19.

134. Sep Vanmarcke (BEL/EFD) 2:19.

135. Tom Slagter (NED/DDT) 2:24.

136. Fabien Grellier (FRA/DEN) 2:24.

137. Tim Declercq (BEL/QST) 2:24.

138. Tsgabu Grmay (ETH/TRE) 2:24.

139. David Gaudu (FRA/FDJ) 2:24.

140. Marc Soler (ESP/MOV) 2:24.

141. Jos Herrada Lopez (ESP/COF) 2:24.

142. Damien Gaudin (FRA/DEN) 2:24.

143. Stefan Kung (SUI/BMC) 2:24.

144. Franco Pellizotti (ITA/BAH) 2:24.

145. Pawel Poljanski (POL/BOR) 2:24.

146. Anthony Perez (FRA/COF) 2:24.

147. Rory Sutherland (AUS/EAU) 2:24.

148. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/SKY) 2:24.

149. Daniel Navarro (ESP/COF) 2:24.

150. Luke Rowe (GBR/SKY) 2:24.

151. Patrick Bevin (NZL/BMC) 2:42.

152. Wout Poels (NED/SKY) 2:44.

153. Ian Boswell (USA/KAT) 2:44.

154. Jos Joaquin Rojas (ESP/MOV) 2:44.

155. Silvan Dillier (SUI/ALM) 2:48.

156. Luke Durbridge (AUS/MIT) 3:00.

157. Yoann Offredo (FRA/AJW) 3:02.

158. Jack Bauer (NZL/MIT) 3:02.

159. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BMC) 3:02.

160. Tony Gallopin (FRA/ALM) 3:02.

161. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/LOT) 3:02.

162. Jasper De Buyst (BEL/LOT) 3:02.

163. Kvin Ledanois (FRA/FST) 3:02.

164. Tomasz Marczynski (POL/LOT) 3:12.

165. Simon Gerrans (AUS/BMC) 4:04.

166. Matthew Hayman (AUS/MIT) 4:04.

167. Michael Hepburn (AUS/MIT) 4:04.

168. Damien Howson (AUS/MIT) 4:04.

169. Jay Thomson (RSA/DDT) 4:04.

170. Jesper Hansen (DEN/AST) 4:04.

171. Robert Gesink (NED/LNL) 4:04.

172. Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE/FDJ) 6:23.

173. Arnaud Dmare (FRA/FDJ) 6:23.

174. Olivier Le Gac (FRA/FDJ) 6:23.

175. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP/SKY) 7:48.


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