There is, of course, a fast man atop the standings this morning. Mark Cavendish Dimension Data emerged victorious in the mass finish at Utah Beach to claim the first maillot jaune of the race - and the first of his career after 27 stage wins. Speaking to Cyclingnews at the Dimension Data team hotel this morning, Cavendish admitted that he was unlikely to defend his yellow jersey. Cavendish has chosen an understated way to mark his first day in the yellow jersey, limiting the yellow accoutrements on his bike to handlebar tape and pedals.
You can see a gallery of his tweaked Cervelo S5 here. Cherbourg was a staple of the Tour route in the early part of the 20th century but remarkably, today is only the second time that the town has featured in La Grande Boucle since World War II. The summit is just 1. The fraught opening days of the Tour de France are always synonymous with crashes and yesterday's leg to Utah Beach was no different.
Michael Morkov Katusha fell heavily in the finishing straight but the Dane is currently warming up on the rollers outside his team bus and is due to start the stage. Alberto Contador Tinkoff is also still in the race despite his crash on yesterday's stage. We should have an update on Contador's condition from the start shortly, but already yesterday evening, the Spaniard was guardedly optimistic that he had not done himself any irreperable damage on stage 1.
Contador did pick up some nasty abrasions to his right shoulder, and that might limit him on today's punchy finale. Nairo Quintana, Chris Froome et al will be watching him in the peloton this afternoon with interest. Grey skies greeted the Tour peloton ahead of the start, though the rain has at least abated for now, as they negotiate the neutralised zone.
Slate grey skies overhead for the peloton ahead of stage 2 of the Tour de France. Mark Cavendish in the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.
