Summary

  • Follow live text coverage of the 111th edition of the Tour de France

  • Bardet wins first stage; Cavendish trying to make time limit after suffering in heat

  • The Grand Depart takes place in Italy for the first time

  • Stage one: Florence - Rimini, 206km

  • Reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard and fellow two-time winner Tadej Pogacar both included in the 176-man start list

Live Reporting

  1. Bardet triumphs as Cavendish comes through demanding opener

    Romain BardetGetty Images

    What a demanding opening day at the Tour de France.

    A famous win for French rider Romain Bardet, the arrival of possibly a new star in Frank van den Broek and the greatest ever sprinter in the history of the race, Mark Cavendish struggling before coming home inside the time limit.

    You can read all about that in our report.

    We will be back on Sunday at around 11:30 BST for the slightly less arduous 199.2km route across the rolling hills of the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy to Bologna.

    Arrivederci.

  2. Cavendish gets through brutal opening stage

    Mark CavendishGetty Images

    According to the results I have in front of me 167 riders have completed stage one.

    But as yet still no Mark Cavendish. Hold on what's this....

    Pictures of the Manxman heading down the finishing straight with his Astana teammates, as well as Fabio Jakobsen and Bram Welten and there are smiles all around and even a thumbs up.

    What a devilish opener for the Astana Qazaqstan rider who finishes just over 39 minutes down but inside the time cut.

  3. 'The weirdest stage I've ever done'

    A whole host of Ineos Grenadiers riders including 2018 and 2019 winners Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal came home in the chasing group, along with Tom Pidcock, Laurens de Plus and Carlos Rodriguez.

    Here is what Britain's Tom Pidock made of the opening stage: "It was the weirdest stage I've ever done I think because of the heat. It was the first proper hot day in Europe and nobody has really raced in it and no team really wanted to take it up.

    "When teams did take it up, nothing happened because it was so hot you were just gassed. I am really happy because I was feeling rough at the presentation. I saw a sign saying 'smile Pidcock' so I tried. We were super today. It is a really nice start."

  4. General classification after stage one

    Right here is how stage one ended up:

    1. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM-firmenich PostNL) 5hrs 07mins 22secs

    2. Frank Van den Broek (Ned/DSM-firmenich PostNL) +4secs

    3. Wout van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) +11secs

    4. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +15secs

    5. Maxim van Gils (Bel/Lotto-dstny) Same time

    6. Alex Aranburu (Spa/Movistar) "

    7. Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) "

    8. Remco Evenpoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) "

    9. Pello Bilbao (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) "

    10. Alberto Bettiol (Ita/Education-Easy Post) "

  5. Cav watch

    While the DSM team celebrate spare a thought for Mark Cavendish.

    The 34-time stage winner is still out on the road but does look as though he will comfortably get home inside the time limit.

  6. Bardet begins long farewell with a bang

    Romain BardetGetty Images

    Romain Bardet extended his contract with DSM-Firmenich PostNL recently until the end of 2025 with a view to retiring from road racing next summer to switch his focus to the gravel.

    This is widely expected to be his final Tour de France.

    What a way to begin it for a man who has been one of France's best Grand Tour riders in recent years.

  7. Stage one results

    Right here is how stage one ended up:

    1. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM-firmenich PostNL) 5hrs 07mins 22secs

    2. Frank Van den Broek (Ned/DSM-firmenich PostNL) Same time

    3. Wout van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) +5 secs

    4. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) Same time

    5. Maxim van Gils (Bel/Lotto-dstny) "

    6. Alex Aranburu (Spa/Movistar) "

    7. Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) "

    8. Remco Evenpoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) "

    9. Pello Bilbao (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) "

    10. Alberto Bettiol (Ita/Education-Easy Post) "

  8. Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogacar cross the line in third and fourth.

  9. The DSM-firmenich PostNL boys now celebrate with teammates Oscar Olney and Warren Barguil.

    What a fantastic start to the Tour de France.

  10. Bardet wins stage one

    Romain Bardet praises Frank van den BroekGetty Images

    Frank van den Broek and Romain Bardet have done it....

    That was sensational. The French rider, salutes his teammate as they cross the line but he will collect the yellow jersey.

  11. This is a nail-biting finish.

  12. Frank van den Broek and Romain Bardet have 11 seconds in the bank...

  13. The chasers are running out of riders...

    The gap is 14 seconds. What a finish this is.

  14. Frank van den Broek is still pulling Romain Bardet along but the chasers are making huge gains...

    It's 21 seconds.

  15. Frank van den Broek is all in and putting in a superb shift here. They only lost one second in that last kilometre.

  16. Can Romain Bardet and Frank van den Broek hold on? They have 36 seconds but surely the winner will come from the greatly reduced peloton.

  17. The leading duo have stabilised their advantage at 40 seconds. This could be a cracking high-speed finish.

  18. Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar are sat near the back of the chasing bunch with Wout van Aert for company.

  19. Frank van den Broek and Romain Bardet could really do with some twisty-turny roads here instead of long straights into a headwind. Their advantage stands at 45 seconds.

  20. The two DSM riders are losing chunks of time as Visma-Lease a Bike, EF Education-EasyPost push the pace. The lead is 55 seconds.