German rider Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) won the opening stage of the Tour de France for the second year in a row.

The sprinter beat Peter Sagan (Cannondale), Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp) and Bryan Coquard (Europcar).

British favourite Mark Cavendish, riding in the town where he spent much of his childhood, had targeted the stage and a day in the yellow jersey for the first time in his career, but he was derailed by a heavy crash as he started his sprint.

The Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider came together with Australian champion Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE). Gerrans recovered quickly, but it was widely reported after the stage that Cavendish had suffered a separated shoulder, putting his participation in the race in jeopardy.

Following the race’s ceremonial start, the day’s three-man breakaway formed almost immediately. Jens Voigt (Trek), riding his final Tour de France at the age of 42, was joined by Nicholas Edet (Cofidis) and Benoit Jarrier (Bretagne-Seche Environnment).

“My whole body was aching today,” said German veteran Voigt.

“We knew we could take this mountain jersey if someone is in a breakaway. I said to my body, ‘Are you in? Let’s be stupid, let’s be spectacular, let’s put on a show!’

“I know that I won’t win this jersey, but to have it today is special. I am here to help the young riders, but I can also make something, too.”

Voigt was caught with 55 kilometres left to go as Lotto-Belisol attempted to drive the pace on the front of the peloton.

A number of teams took turns at the front as the sprinters geared up for the finish, but in the final kilometre Fabian Cancellara saw an opportunity and attacked. However, he could not sustain the effort.

Cavendish and Gerrans’ crash resulted in the bunch splitting, with Kittel and the rest of the top four left all alone at the front to fight it out for the win.

Cavendish was taken to hospital after the finish, but Gerrans emerged with little more than scrapes and bruises.

“I haven’t seen the images of the sprint so I couldn’t tell 100 percent what was happening but obviously I went from being perfectly placed to hitting the ground really hard,” he said.

“It was really too bad because I was up for the win, but I couldn’t ask more from the guys because they put me in the perfect position.

“I think I was lucky because I have mainly just lost some skin and feel quite bruised, but in crashes like that a lot worse can happen.

“Hopefully I won’t feel too bad tomorrow but no doubt I am going to feel the effect of what happened today.”

The main contenders for the general classification came through the stage unscathed with defending champion Chris Froome and his main rival Alberto Contador finishing safely.

Stage 2 sees the riders tackle a 201 kilometre route between York and Sheffield, featuring nine categorised climbs.