03 July,2011 07:38 AM IST | | AFP
Uphill sprint specialist Philippe Gilbert dominated an incident-packed first stage of the Tour de France here on Saturday to win his first stage on the race and pull on the yellow jersey.
Gilbert
Defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain was involved in a mass pile-up 9km from the finish, the Spaniard trailing home in 82nd place 1min 20sec behind Gilbert as the Belgian lived up to pre-race predictions.
White jersey for Thomas
Olympic champion Geraint Thomasu00a0 pulled on the race's white jersey for best young rider. Team Sky all-rounder Thomas finished an impressive sixth on the 191.5km race opener from Passage du Gois to Mont des Alouettes.
