Stage 1

The road

At the start

Utrecht, 13.8 kilometres to start

The Tour opens against the clock on flat Dutch road, and the four men it is really about spend the afternoon trying not to lose anything: Vincenzo Nibali defending, Alberto Contador chasing a Giro-Tour double nobody has managed since 1998, Nairo Quintana with four race days in two months, Chris Froome. Seven mountain stages and five summit finishes wait for them, and none of it starts today.

How it was won

1. 17 km to go

   Dumoulin fastest at the check

   Half distance through the Utrecht heat and Tom Dumoulin is quickest of the favourites, a whole country roaring for a first Dutch yellow jersey since 1989. Like Martin and Cancellara after him, he unravels in the second half.

2. 2At the line

   Dennis at 55.4kph

   Rohan Dennis stops the clock at an average of 55.4kph — the fastest individual time trial ever ridden at the Tour, beating Boardman's 1994 mark — and takes yellow, green and white in one hot, windy afternoon.

The result