Cavendish struggles as Bardet wins first Tour stage

Britain’s Mark Cavendish struggled on stage one of the Tour de France, and is set to finish more than 30 minutes behind the peloton.

France's Romain Bardet of DSM-Firmenich-PostNL won the Grand Depart from Florence to Rimini in Italy.

Bardet's team-mate Frank van den Broek was second following a breakaway from the two riders which saw the pair just finish seconds ahead of the closing peloton.

Cavendish is attempting to break the Tour de France record for stage wins he shares with Belgian legend Eddy Merckx on 34.

The 39-year-old came out of retirement last year after coming within centimetres of breaking the record, before abandoning the race with a broken collarbone following a crash.

More to follow.

1. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM-firmenich PostNL) 5hrs 07mins 22secs

2. Frank van den Broek (Ned/DSM-firmenich PostNL) Same time

3. Wout van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) +5 secs

4. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) Same time

5. Maxim van Gils (Bel/Lotto-dstny) "

6. Alex Aranburu (Spa/Movistar) "

7. Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) "

8. Remco Evenpoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) "

9. Pello Bilbao (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) "

10. Alberto Bettiol (Ita/Education-Easy Post) "