Tour director Christian Prudhomme waves the depart flag from the lead car and, as expected, there is an immediate break of half a dozen or so riders.

STAGE TWO IS UNDER WAY

Image source, GeorgeGaunt/Twitter

George Gaunt:, external Here's our little effort.

Yellow Jersey
Classification

Cavendish's abandonment means there are just three British riders left in the race, although one of them does at least have a great chance of winning the biggest prize of all.

Team Sky's Chris Froome finished sixth in stage one. His placing was irrelevant though - it was all about staying upright because he has bigger battles to face, on the cobbles of stage five and the mountain passes of the Alps and Pyrenees. Nobody will win the race in Yorkshire, but they could lose everything, as Cav proved.

Image source, Getty Images

However, Froome's team-mate and fellow Brit Geraint Thomas hinted yesterday that Froome could have a go for the stage win today. Surely not?

The other Brit is 21-year-old debutant Simon Yates. He's pretty decent on the hills as well but he's in Simon Gerrans's Orica GreenEdge team and may well be playing a supporting role today.

John McEnerney:, external Sad to see a top rider withdrawing but "thems the brakes"! Green Jersey contenders are risk and reward riders this is part of it!

The peloton snakes past York Minster, which has a massive yellow jersey on its roof. Fans are up on walls, traffic lights, hanging out of windows, desperate to get any vantage point. Marcel Kittel with an elaborate kiss to the camera - he has a huge smile on his face, although it may be more of a grimace when he reaches Holme Moss. Terrific scenes again.

Image source, Twitter

Victoria Mckeon:, external In the yellow, Rosie ready for her first tour!

Image source, AP

Race leader Marcel Kittel is at the front of the peloton, alongside the polka-dot clad Jens Voigt - will Jensie go for broke again today? The riders are rolling through the centre of York and the crowds are several deep, on both sides of the narrow winding streets, cheering the 197 riders left in the race on their way.

The stage is just getting underway and I doubt they've seen as many people in the stands at York racecourse apart from when the Ebor is run. It looks like the crowds that graced the route on Saturday will be out in force again today. There are thousands watch the riders roll out.

There is a short neutralised zone to get the riders on to the bigger roads before racing starts at around 11:20 BST

White Jersey
Classification

Another potential contender for the stage win is Peter Sagan. The Slovakian finished second on stage one but he can climb well, has won the green points jersey for the last two editions of the race, and could feature.

He is the current leader of the young rider (under-25) competition and will wear the white jersey today. His Cannondale team tweeted:, external Preparing for Stage Two of the Tour de France, Peter Sagan #GreenMachine #whitejersey

Image source, CannondalePro/Twitter

Stage two is a 201km (125 miles) race from York to Sheffield that features 3,000m of climbing spread across nine hills. The route has been likened to that of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege one-day Spring Classic., external This year's edition was won by Simon Gerrans and he had earmarked this stage as one he was looking to win. I guess that now all depends on how he is feeling after yesterday's little spill.

Image source, Tour de France

Image source, PA

In the melee at the end of stage one, Germany's Marcel Kittel emerged victorious to take the yellow jersey for a second successive year, repeating his success on stage one in Corsica in 2013.

He will wear the coveted maillot jaune on today's 201km race from York to Sheffield but it's highly unlikely that he'll still be in the race lead at the end of today's hilly stage.

What do you make of Cavendish's admission, apology and of the racing incident itself. You can text me your thoughts on 81111 or tweet #bbccycling. Please put your name on all texts and start them with CYCLING.

I'd also like to know where you are watching today's race from. Will you be one of the estimated 70,000 people heading to the big climb of the day on Holme Moss? Or are you heading for Jenkin Road on the outskirts of Sheffield? That features a 33% slope - the steepest gradient on this year's race. Send me your pics and I'll publish the best ones I get.

Polkadot Jersey
Classification

Image source, JensVoight/Twitter

Veteran Jens Voigt, at the age of 42, is riding in his 17th and last Tour de France. He broke clear of the peloton in the opening metres of stage one and went on to claim the King of the Mountains jersey in stage one. He said on Twitter:, external That felt pretty good.... To say the least....

It was a hugely disappointing end to what had been a terrific opening stage in the Yorkshire Dales for Cavendish and the majority of the estimated one million fans who lined the route.

But such was the Omega Pharma - Quick-Step rider's desire to put himself in the race leader's yellow jersey for the first time in his career, he made an error of judgement that has ultimately cost him the chance of adding to his tally of 25 stage wins in this year's race.

Olympic gold medallist Joanna Rowsell:, external Absolutely gutted for Mark Cavendish. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

Here's more from Cavendish: "I had some optimism that the swelling would go down overnight but it's not possible from a medical point of view to start today. I'm absolutely devastated. Firstly, the Tour is the UK for anther two days and secondly we have an incredible team.

Image source, PA

"I spoke to Simon Gerrans at the finish and then I called him at his hotel last night too. We both went for Peter Sagan's wheel but I wanted that gap so bad but it wasn't there. I hope that Simon is OK and today is a stage for him. He's a good guy and I wish him well for the rest of the Tour. I'm sorry.

"I would have loved to have been here for three weeks as we have a really strong team here but the crash was my fault."

Image source, PA

The Manx Missile has been up and about speaking to the media this morning. He said: "I knew straight away because normally in crashes I bounce back straight away. This was the first time in my career that I knew something was up but I wanted to finish and I was able to do that but I was in pain."

It takes a big man to admit to being in the wrong and Cavendish will certainly win some plaudits for accepting responsibility for taking out himself and Australia's Simon Gerrans in the run-in to Harrogate.

Image source, AP

"It was my fault, I'll apologise to Simon Gerrans. I tried to find a gap that was not there, I wanted to win," said Britain's Mark Cavendish as his Tour de France ended prematurely with a crash on stage one.