The 112th edition of the Tour de France begins with Grand Depart
Stage one route guide: Flat 184.9km stage around Lille
Benjamin Thomas to wear polka dot jersey after winning first two mountain points
Defending champion Tadej Pogacar is favourite to win title for a fourth time
Stefan Bissegger of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale becomes the second rider to withdraw from this year's Tour having also hit the deck earlier.
Meanwhile, Simon Yates has rejoined the peloton after a puncture but Lenny Martinez of Bahrain Victorious is struggling off the back of the group.
There's not much interest in that mountain point as the bunch approaches the line on Mont Noir, so GC contender Jonas Vingegaard thinks 'I might as well take it myself then', and makes a little burst to grab it.
The peloton is on to the last of today's three climbs, although Benjamin Thomas is already assured of wearing the King of the Mountains jersey tomorrow.
Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar is going for a fourth general classification win after previous victories in 2020, 2021 and 2024.
Speaking at the start line, he was asked if he's in the form of his life. "I hope so, yeah," he replied.
"When I was a kid I was not even dreaming to be on the start line and now here is my sixth time on the start line for the Tour and [I'm] fighting for the victory again. It's the biggest race in the world so yeah, it's the most important race of every cyclist's career."
On the challenge from Visma-Lease a Bike: "We can expect [the unexpected] and we can see them fighting from today.
"We have a really good team, it's a super good atmosphere so far, and I'm looking forward to spending another three weeks with the guys."
Tim Merlier's Soudal-QuickStep team-mate Remco Evenepoel claimed a podium finish on his Tour debut last year and is again expected to challenge Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard for this year's title.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe veteran Primoz Roglic should also be one of the leading GC contenders as the Slovenian aims to complete the set having already won the other two Grand Tours.
Image source, Getty ImagesSoudal-QuickStep sprinter Tim Merlier aims to be competing for the stage win later, not least because he hails from just across the Belgian border.
And, of course, with this being day one of the Tour, today's stage winner will be guaranteed the yellow jersey for at least stage two.
Speaking at the start line, the reigning European road champion said: "I'm happy with my shape, I'm happy to be here, and it's a nice opportunity today.
"But all the riders want that first yellow jersey so it will be a stressful day."
Big blow for Ineos Grenadiers. Filippo Ganna has tried to get back in the race following that earlier tumble but has continued to struggle and has now thrown in the towel.
The former world time trial champion is the first rider to withdraw from this year's Tour de France.
Wow, what a sprint for the single mountain point on offer on Mont Cassel.
Benjamin Thomas and Matteo Vercher battle it out, with Thomas digging deep to recover 20 metres from out.
The Cofidis rider lunges for the line to claim the point but in the process his bike slips on the cobbles and goes down, wiping out Vercher too.
Vercher throws his hands in the air as he's sat on the cobbles while fellow Frenchman Thomas scrambles to get back on his bike. He really wanted that point.
To be fair, he's now won both climbs today and with just one left, that means he'll be wearing polka dots on day two.
Image source, Getty ImagesBenjamin Thomas and Matteo Vercher have set off from the front of the peloton as the day's second climb approaches.
After regaining the Tour title last year, Tadej Pogacar has basically been on a mission to complete cycling.
He claimed his first world title in September and has been in fine form this year, winning the Criterium du Dauphine for the first time and another stage race, the UAE Tour.
He's also won four one-day races so has six overall wins from the nine races he's had this year, finishing on the podium in the other three.
Image source, Getty ImagesThis year’s race could well come down to a tactical battle between UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike. The latter got the better of Team Emirates as they produced a tactical masterclass at the Giro d’Italia, sending Wout van Aert up the road on the penultimate stage to help Simon Yates claim the pink jersey as UAE’s race leader Isaac del Toro got into a stalemate with Richard Carapaz.
But then the Dutch team’s tactics were questioned at the Criterium du Dauphine, as Tadej Pogacar ultimately secured a dominant win over Jonas Vingegaard three weeks ago.
Visma's head of racing Grischa Niermann said: "From day one we will have to be there as a team to optimally assist Jonas in the GC. In addition, there will be opportunities for several riders to go for stage wins.
"We are very deliberately focused on ourselves and our own plan. We have an optimal preparation behind us and with that, we think we can get the best possible result."
Visma-Lease a Bike have just been on the radio, telling their riders to stay near the front of the peloton, but not to burn too much energy.
Jasper Philipsen has the chance to move into double figures for Tour de France stage wins today.
He and fellow Belgian rider Wout van Aert both have nine wins in total, while Tadej Pogacar is the only rider on this year's Tour with more than 10. The Slovenian claimed six last year to move to 17 overall.
Jonathan Milan makes an early move to claim the first sprint, leaving Biniam Girmay and Jasper Philipsen in his wake.
Philipsen took his hand off his handlebars during the sprint in a bid to manoeuvre his way through but even that wasn't enough to get him back alongside Milan.
Speaking of sprinters Matt, they're now moving towards the front of the peloton as the race for the first sprint points of this year's Tour is not far off.
Matt Warwick
BBC Sport in Lille
Image source, BBC SportAfter being one of many hit in the face by a waffle, the famous Tour de France promotional caravan - and its giant cheese cars - made way for the big moment.
There’s been days of build-up to this Grand Depart in Lille - the first in France for many years.
And the home crowd loved it, a swelling roar of appreciation followed the peloton as it cruised through Lille’s beautiful maple-lined regency buildings.
They’ll all be back later for what could be history, if Biniam Girmay takes yellow after a bunch sprint.
If not it could go to a Belgian such as Jasper Philipsen or Tim Merlier in a city which, in architecture and cuisine at least, feels more Flemish then French.
Image source, BBC SportThe breakaway is no more, the peloton has caught them up, while Tudor's Julian Alaphilippe has now been dropped.
Mauro Schmid, Luke Plapp (both Jayco-AlUla), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Louis Barre (Intermarche-Wanty) and Frank Van den Broek (Picnic PostNL) have been dropped by the peloton, while Florian Lipowitz is playing catch-up after stopping to change his front wheel.
The peloton has picked up the pace and has closed to within 30 seconds of the breakaway.
After 20 kilometres of chasing, Sean Flynn and Filippo Ganna have also managed to latch onto the back of the group, which is beginning to split.
Image source, EPAGeraint Thomas begins his long goodbye from the Tour de France today. The Welshman is competing in cycling's biggest race for the 14th and final time before retirement.
His overall victory in 2018 was arguably the finest moment of a career that began with Olympic glory on the track, but his relationship with the Tour is a deeper story.
'G' was also runner-up to Egan Bernal in 2019, then in 2022 he displayed his enduring class with a place on the podium in Paris behind the Tour's two modern-day stars, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar.
Many British fans will also fondly remember how he rode 20 stages of the 2013 race with a broken pelvis, determined to help Chris Froome to victory at great personal cost.
After the retirement of Mark Cavendish last year, the fact Froome has likely ridden his last Tour and the impending retirements of both Thomas and Lizzie Deignan, it feels like the end of an era for British cycling.