Tour de France: Tough start for Cavendish in brutal first stage

It was a disappointing start to the Tour de France for Sir Mark Cavendish, who finished nearly 40 minutes down on the peloton on day one of the event.

The Manx Missile is attempting to claim a record 35th stage victory this year, but appeared to suffer from illness in gruelling heat yesterday (29th June).

His teammate Michele Gazzoli had to abandon the race with gastrointestinal problems due to heatstroke.

Speaking to official Tour media afterwards, Cavendish said that on the whole his Astana Qazaqstan Team worked well together to get through it:

Romain Bardet crossed the line first in Rimini to take the yellow jersey.

Today's second stage is set to get underway at 11.35am BST, and is expected to conclude at around 5.45pm.