It's the moment the Cycling World has been waiting all year for. The opening stage of le Tour de France. Like many editions of this race, we begin with a relatively long flat stage which will provide the sprinters with the chance to wear the first Yellow Jersey.
We are underway! The crowds are out in their droves on what looks to be a beautiful day here to see the riders off on the biggest 3 week challenge of the year.
Plenty of riders trying their luck early on. We will see who is able to make it into the breakaway.
Only 3 riders are allowed an early gap here with the Peloton shutting down other efforts. Velasco is joined by the Grieg duo of Korsaeth and Omarsson.
A puncture for Van Poppel didn't result in anything worse as he is aided back to the Peloton by his team. The Peloton not chasing too hard here with still 123km to go and a gap of 3'07.
100km to go and the gap is 2'52. One thing worth noting is that we will likely see the first showdown between the sprinters at the lone intermediate sprint as there will be a couple of points available.
As expected, the sprinters teams come forward as we approach the sprint point to launch their leaders.
Meanwhile out front, Velasco is the fastest of the trio and narrowly wins the intermediate sprint ahead of Omarsson.
Demare wins the sprint in the Peloton for 2 points ahead of Groenewegen who gets a single point.
60km to go and the Peloton has picked up the pace as the gap is down to 2'12 as the Peloton snake their way through one of many villages we will be passing through over the next 3 weeks.
Our leading trio is down to 2 now after an attack by Velasco which Omarsson responded to. With 35km still to go, their gap is only 30 seconds over their former companion and a further 55 seconds back to the Peloton.
The leading duo still 46 seconds ahead as the Peloton passes under the 20km to go banner. All of the work being shared between Aegon, Puma and MOL for their respective sprinters.
10km now and the Peloton is within touching distance, this should be decided in a sprint.
The catch is made with 8km to the finish and it's now on the sprinters teams to get themselves organised.
3.5km and a very noticeable lack of proper lead-out riders coming forward which means there are climbers mixed in who are really just causing trouble.
Meanwhile, the increase in pace has led to a split in the Peloton! 82 riders have been caught out. We hope there are no GC contenders who could be about to lose unnecessary time here.
2.5km now and the only real train here appears to be from Puma on the right-hand side where Steimle and Aregger are still in front of Demare.
1.5km and it's Aregger's turn to take over at the front. Scully closely following Demare. The other sprinters are here but not particularly organised.
800m now and Demare is set free to go for it. Scully in the best position to contest him. Kamberaj is on the left-hand side. Houle in the middle has Groenewegen for company. Lo Cicero is actually in the right corner closest to the camera against the advertising boards.
It's not looking too promising here for Demare. Kamberaj is emerging into the lead but those others coming from deep are definitely in the running too.
200m and Kamberaj is in the lead. Houle is right on his wheel. Demare and Scully will now be lucky to be in the podium fight.
And indeed it’s a relatively surprise winner here! Kamberaj wins Stage 1 and will wear the Yellow Jersey. Surely a very proud moment for the Albanian.
Houle just takes 2nd ahead of a very quick charging Cisse. Cisse and Groenewegen in 4th left it a bit late here.
Stepniak takes the final Top 5 spot. His countryman Banaszek is 6th ahead of Contreras. Early signs pointed to much better results for the next two with Scully 8th and Demare 9th. Lo Cicero is 10th.
And there was indeed a gap and quite a big one!! Only 63 riders end up with the same time as the stage winner. The official gap is 1'41 for the rest of the Peloton. Olivier is the biggest name that appears to have been caught out although a lot of riders who would look to provide depth points have also ended up on the wrong side of the split. At least it's early on!
Back to celebrating success! Kamberaj is our first stage winner and first GC leader in the 2021 Tour de France.
Banaszek leads the U25s. Zwift Pro Cycling leads the Teams.
le Tour de France - Stage 1 Report 
