It's a little blurry but I think that's Cavendish in either sixth or eighth crossing the line.

For all you speed freaks out there, the pace of the race is currently 43.3 km/h through the first two hours of racing.

That means we've got a couple of hours of racing until we reach the business end of the day.

Plenty of time for you to let me know who is your pick to win today's stage.

My heart says Cav, my head says Kittel. #bbccycling

Fair point Ian. Clearly I meant to type western Germany. My geography going a little awry there. It's still a miserable day to be out on a bike!

It looked like Alexander Kristoff of the Katusha-Alpecin team was first over the line from the peloton and therefore fifth overall.

In the end, Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish didn't really put on the after-burners and picked up some minor points. Full details when I get them.

This year's route with nine flat stages and not so many hilly may not see Sagan dominate the green jersey as he has in previous years where he has been able to hoover up points because of his ability to sprint and get over big humps.

Image source, Getty Images

I'd imagine Taylor Phinney will fancy this. There are 20 points on offer for the first rider over the line of the intermediate sprint in the first battle for the green points jersey and he is the first to open it up.

But his back wheel slides out on a wet white line and he does well to stay upright as France's Boudat proves a bit stronger.

Back in the peloton, Peter Sagan suddenly appears near the front. The Slovakian has won the last five green points jersey and is chasing a joint record sixth...Mark Cavendish is also hanging around...

The rain is fairly lashing it down in southern Germany. On a purely selfish note, it's quite nice to see that it's not only Britain that gets a bit wet in July.

I'm not sure the riders will be enjoying this. Those taking it easy in the peloton have been reaching for the waterproofs.

The four out front are not wasting time and energy messing around. Heads are down, focused on the intermediate sprint coming up in a couple of kilometres in that footballing hotbed of Monchengladbach.

Can I throw another British name into the mix for a surprise winner today? How about Dan McLay? Dan who?

The British sprinter of Fortuneo-Oscaro - he had four top-10 finishes on his Tour debut last year. the 25-year-old was born in New Zealand but moved to these shores as an infant.

He told Le Tour's website: "There are a lot of opportunities for sprinters this year and of course I'm ambitious after the results I had last season.

"I'm not going to set myself any goals but what I can tell you is that when I made top three last year it was a disappointment because you always hope to win.

"I don't have a train so for me it's all about trying to find myself in the best position and hope to get a little bit of luck.”

Pick your Tour stage winner and give me a reason why using #bbccycling.

Image source, Getty Images

A little check up on the road reveals little has changed. Thomas de Gendt took control of the peloton a few kilometres ago, and took a whole minute out of the leading quartet.

With 130km remaining, it's far too early for the quartet out front to be caught and De Gendt was reminded of that and he sheepishly retreated.

Save your legs Thomas, it's only stage two! De Gendt rides for Lotto-Soudal, the team of Andre Greipel and he will be key in helping get his man over the line first.

The 5 live team have finally arrived in Liege, after a longer-than-expected drive from Dusseldorf. They are currently setting up and will have live commentary of the closing couple of hours - going live from around 14:30 BST and you can listen via this very website.

It might only be stage two, but it's already proving a bit much for former British track cyclist and expert summariser Rob Hayles - he's going to love this photo...

My BBC Radio 5 live colleagues are not swanning around northern Europe doing nothing while the race meanders through Germany and into Belgium.

OJ Borg is putting together an A-Z of the tour and the first installment is live for you

Lots and lots of correct answers - too many to publish you all! But thanks.

The full list is Tom Simpson (1962), Chris Boardman (1994), Sean Yates (1994), David Millar (2000), Bradley Wiggins (2012), Chris Froome (2013), Mark Cavendish (2016) and Geraint Thomas (2017)*.

Stevie D - how short is your memory?!

* Where riders have worn the jersey more than once, the year signifies the first time they did so.

Great bit of work there by Mark Cavendish, lifting the pressure off himself and putting it firmly on the shoulders of Marcel Kittel - the German sprinter who has nine Tour stage wins to his name and a terrific Quick-Step Floors squad built to help him.

I'm not counting out Cav just yet though. Today will give us a clear indication of just how fit the Manxman really is. I can't imagine he would be here if he didn't think he could win a stage.

The other big German contender is Andre Greipel. The 'Gorilla' has 11 Tour stage wins and a superb turn of speed.

Who are you picking for the stage win today? #bbccycling

The fact that Mark Cavendish is even at the Tour is great news in itself. He spent more than two months out with glandular fever and has only been back racing for seven weeks.

Speaking on ITV4, he said: "Three weeks ago I didn't think I would be at the Tour de France.

"The first day at the Tour of Slovenia (in June) was a real shock to the system. I thought I was out of my depth but I got back into it. I had two months off and seven weeks to get ready for the Tour. Sometimes as a sprinter you can get lucky and get on the right wheel in the sprint finish.

"In terms of (Eddy Merckx's) record before I was ill, realistically there was a chance. Right now, i don't think it's possible. I'm not bullish about getting a stage win. Quick-Step are the team that have to take on. If Kittel doesnt win a lot here he'll be letting his team down."

Image source, Getty Images

So close, Matt. So close. #bbccycling - 20 minutes to get your answers in.

Image source, EPA

OK, so I've gone 90 minutes without looking at who will be battling for the stage win in Liege.

There's somebody called Mark Cavendish who might be in with a shout. Anyone heard of him?

The Manx Missile is second on the list of most stage wins with 30, four behind five-time tour winner Eddy Merckx.

Will he make it 31 today? If he does, I can safely say anyone within the four walls of our office here in Salford will know about it.

Cav has not had the best of build-ups to this year's race. Glandular fever tends to hamper the training and racing schedule.

He also has the 'Gorilla' Andre Greipel and his fellow German Marcel Kittel for company. And then there are French duo Arnaud Demare and Nacer Bouhanni and fast-rising Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen to consider.

Out on the road, the riders out front have 160km or so remaining as they pedal through a town called Niederkassel. Their lead is sticking at three minutes 20 seconds. There are thousands of people lining the route.

The last time the tour visited Germany, it was 1987. The racing was in West Berlin and there was a big wall separating the city.

The Germans fell a bit out of love with cycling after all the doping issues but they started televising the Tour again a few years ago and the fans lining the route prove the appetite is there. They have two riders who will hope to be in the mix for the stage win a little later this afternoon.

A helpful tweet for many of you forgetting the original British Tour pioneer. #bbccycling - full answer at 13:00 BST

Rough translation: Tonight they have operated on the fracture of my patella at the University Hospital of Düsseldorf. Everything has gone well. Thank you all for being there

In his stage-by-stage guide, Rob Hayles said of stage one that a rider couldn't win the Tour on day one, but he could certainly lose it.

And that is exactly what happened to Spanish favourite Alejandro Valverde. The Movistar rider slid out on the drenched roads in Dusseldorf.

He is not the only rider to abandon the race after stage one. Bahrain-Merida's Spanish leader Ion Izagirre also crashed out, as did Australia's Luke Durbridge of the Orica-Scott team.

So, we are down to 195 riders.

Image source, Rob Groves

Rob Groves is getting his own personal 'Tour' started today.

The 61-year-old has set off from Brighton to handcycle 2,500 miles around the coast of England and Wales, aiming to finish in London on Friday, 28 July.

Read all about Rob's former life as a bodybuilder, his journey into handcycling, his aims for the ride and how you can keep up with it here.