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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 JULY 2016 Sport 54 AN emotional Mark Cavendish completed cycling's prestigious set of distinctive jerseys when he won the crash-marred first stage of the Tour de France on Saturday to take the overall leader's yellow jersey. The Dimension Data rider out- sprinted German Marcel Kittel and world champion Peter Sagan of Slovakia at the end of a 188km ride from Mont St Michel to near one of the D-Day beaches. "I can't believe it. Regardless of who was there, the Tour de France is the Tour de France," Cavendish told reporters while one of the overall favourites, Alberto Conta- dor, was licking his wounds follow- ing a crash. "To win a stage is incredible. I'm very emotional for it. It's going to be a special day tomorrow to ride a stage in yellow. There was no bet- ter place to achieve this than Utah Beach where soldiers died for us." After the podium ceremony, organisers and riders, includ- ing Cavendish, American Brent Bookwalter, German champion Andre Greipel, French champion Arthur Vichot, Belgian Greg van Avermaet and Canadian Antoine Duchesne paid tribute to the sol- diers who died during the World War Two D-Day operations. They laid white flowers by a war memorial in a brief ceremony. Cavendish, who now has 27 Tour stage wins to his name, held off his rivals after several opponents had been taken out of contention fol- lowing a crash in the final straight. Cavendish wore the world cham- pion's rainbow jersey after winning the road race in 2011, the pink jer- sey for the Giro d'Italia leader (in 2009, 2011 and 2013) as well as the red jersey for the Vuelta leader (2010). The Manxman also secured the green jersey for the points clas- sification on the Tour de France (2011). He is third on the all-time list of Tour stage winners behind Belgian Eddy Merckx (34) and one shy of Frenchman Bernard Hinault's 28. "I still have that desire, I still have that respect for the Tour de France," he said, Double Tour champion Conta- dor crashed with about 80 kilo- metres left, suffering bruises to his shoulder, elbow and groin. "He's got bruises on his shoulder, his elbow and groin," a race doc- tor said after the Spaniard had his right shoulder taped. "At first sight it does not look like he has suffered any fracture. We gave him a painkiller." Contador finished the stage with- out further problem but he is likely to suffer in Sunday's stage two, a 183km ride from St Lo to Cher- bourg en Cotentin that features a tricky climb near the finish. CYCLING - TOUR DE FRANCE Cavendish wins stage one Mark Cavendish will wear the Tour de France's famed yellow jersey for the first time in his career after winning stage one to Utah Beach Mark Cavendish wins stage one of the 2016 Tour de France Tour de France jerseys YELLOW Given to the overall race leader, namely the rider who has completed the stages so far in the shortest combined time. The jersey is thought to date back to 1919 and takes its colour from l'Auto, the newspaper owned by race founder and sponsor Henri Desgrange. Eddy 'the Cannibal' Merckx wore it for a record 111 days. GREEN The next most prestigious jersey is given to the leader in the points classification which rewards sprint- ers, the riders who can be seen bar- relling to the line in a bunch finish. During each stage, points are at- tributed during the intermediary sprints and at the finish. The jersey was introduced in 1953. Germany's Erik Zabel won it a record six con- secutive times between 1996 and 2001. Slovakian Peter Sagan heads to the 2016 Tour having won it in each of the previous four editions. POLKA DOT The King of the Mountains. Like the green jersey, riders succeed in the climbers' clas- sification by claiming points, in this case for being the first to the top of designated hills and mountains, the greatest number of points being awarded for the hardest ascents. Although the award was introduced in 1933, the distinctive jersey was not brought in until 1975. Scotland's Robert Millar was King of the Mountains in 1984, while Chris Froome last year became the first rider to win the polka dot jersey and yellow jersey in the same Tour since Merckx in 1970. WHITE Given to the best-placed rider under 25 years old on January 1 of the year the Tour is ridden. The jersey was introduced in 1975. It was abandoned in 1989 but reintroduced in 1999. Contador crashes in Tour de France first stage ALBERTO Contador's Tour de France chances suffered an ear- ly blow on Saturday when the Spaniard crashed with about 80 km left in the first stage. The Tinkoff rider, twice winner of the Tour, fell heavily on a bend but quickly got back on his bike with bruises to his right shoul- der. He was helped by several team mates to rejoin the peloton be- fore changing his right shoe and having his right shoulder taped by a race doctor. "It's not the best way to start. I'm bruised all down along my right side from my ankle up but at least I don't have to go home," Contador told reporters. "I came into the corner, there was a traffic island and my front wheel hit it and then I fell back on the curb." Contador, who has not won the Tour since 2009 but has had a strong build-up to the event as he looks to beat pre-race favourites Chris Froome and Nairo Quin- tana, has crashed several times on the Tour in recent years. He now has to deal with the pain over the next few stages be- fore tackling the first mountain stage, a long trek in the Massif Central on Wednesday. "Hopefully, I can get through the coming days and recover be- fore the mountains. There are some positions where my shoul- der gives me some doubts but I want to be optimistic and recov- er. I was well placed (before the crash)," the 33-year-old said. "It's very unfortunate, of course," his sports director Steven De Jongh said. "(Brent) Bookwalter crashed in front of him and took Alberto out. "The first signs are good, he said he was fine. When you crash you get back on the bike and don't feel pain but then after the stage you might be in trouble. But, hopefully, he'll be fine." Alberto Contador continued the race injured