Back to 2013 Tour de France | More videos and photos from Stage 1

Saturday, June 29:  Stage 1, Porto Vecchio - Bastia, 213 km

Rated Ascent:

• Km 45.5: Côte de Sotta, 1.1 km @ 5.9% gradient, Category 4

Stage map, profile and more photos are below the results

Weather: At Bastia, Noon local time: 24C (75F), partly cloudy, 38% humidity, Wind 11-16 kph (7-10mph) from the north to northeast.

The Race: Almost from the gun a five man break (Juan Antonio Flecha, Jerome Cousin, Lars Boom, Juan José Lobato and Cyril Lemoine) rolled off. Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Argos-Shimano and Lotto-Belisol largely did the job of policing the front. For the first 100 km the break was kept on a very short leash, not being allowed much more than two minutes, but with 80 km to go the break had a four minute lead.

With 74 km to go the peloton's chase became serious and the break's gap started to come down. The Tour now only has one intermediate sprint per stage, making each one important to those contesting the Green Jersey. Five kilometers from the intermediate sprint Cannondale started moving up to help Peter Sagan take the sixth place points in play. In a preview of the stage's final sprint, there were several sprint trains working to help their sprinters get the sixth place intermediate sprint points, taken by André Greipel followed by Mark Cavendish and Sagen.

The intermediate sprint's lead-up brought the break's gap to one minute (59 km to go) and with 37 km to go the break was absorbed by a Radio Shack-led peloton. Now the speed went way up (55 kph) as the unified (but strung-out) peloton worked to prevent any further breaks getting away and teams with GC contenders worked to keep their riders near the front.

With 14 km to go the Orica-GreenEdge team bus got stuck under the finish banner (video of the unfortunate accident is posted below results). Ryder Hesjedal was caught in a crash in the back of the pack and had a tough chase while the speed was high.

Because the bus was really stuck, it was announced that the finish was to be taken at the 3 km to go point. Then the bus was freed and the finish line was moved back to its orginal position. Bam! A big crash took down Cavendish, Greipel and Sagen, well before the three km to go point, but it was decided to give everyone who was delayed the pack's time.

After all the chaos Marcel Kittel took the stage.

Results: all 198 starters finished the stage.

1. Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) 4hr 56min 52sec
2. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) s.t.
3. Danny van Poppel (Vacansoleil) s.t.
4. David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) s.t.
5. Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
6. Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r) s.t.
7. Gregory Henderson (Lotto-Belisol) s.t.
8. Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol) s.t.
9. José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) s.t.
10. Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil) s.t.
11. Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) s.t.
12. Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin) s.t.
13. Julien Simon (Sojasun) s.t.
14. Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) s.t.
15. Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) s.t.
16. Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) s.t.
17. José Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) s.t.
18. Ruben Perez (Euskaltel) s.t.
19. Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) s.t.
20. Maarten Wynants (Belkin) s.t.
21. Jonathan Hivert (Sojasun) s.t.
22. Jean-Christophe Péraud (Ag2r) s.t.
23. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
24. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) s.t.
25. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) s.t.
26. Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff) s.t.
27. Sergey Lagutin (Vacansolteil) s.t.
28. Michael Schär (BMC) s.t.
29. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
30. Romain Bardet (Ag2r) s.t.
31. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) s.t.
32. Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida) s.t.
33. Gatis Smukulis (Katusha) s.t.
34. Sylvain Chavanel (Oemga Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
35. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) s.t.
36. Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) s.t.
37. Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
38. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) s.t.
39. Richie Porte (Sky) s.t.
40. Pavel Brutt (Katusha) s.t.
41. Christopher Froome (sky) s.t.
42. Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) s.t.
43. Marcel Sieberg (Lotto-Belisol) s.t.
44. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) s.t.
45. Alberto Losada (Katusha) s.t.
46. Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
47. Nairo Alexander Quintana (Movistar) s.t.
48. Jan Bakelants (Radio Shack) s.t.
49. Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano) s.t.
50. Simon Geschke (Argos-Shimano) s.t.

General Classification:

1. Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) 4hr 56min 52sec
2. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) s.t.
3. Danny van Poppel (Vacansoleil) s.t.
4. David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) s.t.
5. Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
6. Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r) s.t.
7. Gregory Henderson (Lotto-Belisol) s.t.
8. Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol) s.t.
9. José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) s.t.
10. Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil) s.t.
11. Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) s.t.
12. Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin) s.t.
13. Julien Simon (Sojasun) s.t.
14. Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) s.t.
15. Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) s.t.
16. Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) s.t.
17. José Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) s.t.
18. Ruben Perez (Euskaltel) s.t.
19. Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) s.t.
20. Maarten Wynants (Belkin) s.t.
21. Jonathan Hivert (Sojasun) s.t.
22. Jean-Christophe Péraud (Ag2r) s.t.
23. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
24. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) s.t.
25. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) s.t.
26. Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff) s.t.
27. Sergey Lagutin (Vacansolteil) s.t.
28. Michael Schär (BMC) s.t.
29. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
30. Romain Bardet (Ag2r) s.t.
31. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) s.t.
32. Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida) s.t.
33. Gatis Smukulis (Katusha) s.t.
34. Sylvain Chavanel (Oemga Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
35. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) s.t.
36. Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) s.t.
37. Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
38. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) s.t.
39. Richie Porte (Sky) s.t.
40. Pavel Brutt (Katusha) s.t.
41. Christopher Froome (sky) s.t.
42. Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) s.t.
43. Marcel Sieberg (Lotto-Belisol) s.t.
44. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) s.t.
45. Alberto Losada (Katusha) s.t.
46. Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
47. Nairo Alexander Quintana (Movistar) s.t.
48. Jan Bakelants (Radio Shack) s.t.
49. Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano) s.t.
50. Simon Geschke (Argos-Shimano) s.t.

Climber:

1. Juan José Lobato (Euskaltel) 1 point

Points:

1. Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) 45 points
2. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) 35
3. Danny van Poppel (Vacansoleil) 30
4. David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) 26
5. Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 22

Young Rider:

1. Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) 4hr 56min 52sec
2. Danny van Poppel (Vacansoleil) s.t.
3. Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
4. Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin) s.t.
5. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.

Team Classification:

1. Vacansoleil 14hr 50min 36sec
2. Orica-GreenEdge s.t.
3. Lotto-Belisol s.t.
4. Ag2r s.t.
5. Movistar s.t.

Stage 1 map, the island of Corsica

Stage 1 profile

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Videos and Photos from Stage 1

Video of final 6 1/2 minutes of the stage. It switches from English to Flemish halfway through.

Video of Orica-GreenEdge bus crashing into finish line

Orica-GreenEdge's motorhome got stuck at the finish line as was freed only at the last moment.

The view of the bus from further back.

Argos-Shimano leads the pack with 2 km to go. Many riders were delayed by a crash.

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) nearly won the stage.

Enrico Gasparotto

Marcus Burghardt

Two national champion chase, Arthur Vichot and Yukiya Arashiro

Rein Taaramae

John Gadret

Alberto Contador's torn jersey shows he was caught in a crash

Steve Morabito and Tejay Van Garderen

Team Cannondale brings Peter Sagen home.

Marcel Kittel cleaned up today. He got the stage win and the Yellow, Green and White jerseys.