HARROGATE, England — Mark Cavendish went down in a late crash. Marcel Kittel’s hands went up in victory. And British royals who watched the Tour de France debut in England witnessed new signs of a changing of the guard among two of the world’s top sprinters.
For many British fans Saturday, Stage 1 wasn’t supposed to end this way: They wanted British speedster Cavendish to get his first race leader’s yellow jersey and 26th career Tour stage win after the 118-mile ride through Yorkshire.
But with his rivals up front as the finish neared, Cavendish leaned his head to his left into Australia’s Simon Gerrans, and their bikes tumbled.
Germany’s Kittel then made it look easy by dusting three other rivals at the finish. Cavendish got up gingerly and cruised across, cradling his right arm, and got into an ambulance. Tests showed a separated right shoulder. His team said it’ll be decided this morning if Cavendish rides in Stage 2 from York to Sheffield.
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Contrite despite the pain, Cavendish said he was “gutted” about the crash.
“It was my fault. I’ll personally apologize to Simon Gerrans. In reality, I tried to find a gap that wasn’t really there. I wanted to win today,” he said in a statement.
The sprint specialist from the Isle of Man had a lot riding on this stage: His mother is from Harrogate. He had said winning Saturday was one of his key goals this year. And he had a bit to prove: Kittel, 26, a rising star, won four Tour stages last year, to Cavendish’s two.
Cavendish surely would have wanted to be in Kittel’s pedal-clip shoes when Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, handed the yellow jersey to the German, and she, husband Prince William and Prince Harry flanked him, clapping, on the winner’s podium in Harrogate.
“Before the stage, I said it was one goal, maybe, to be with Kate on the podium — and also, of course, Harry and William,” said Kittel, who also won Stage 1 in 2013.
The two favorites for victory in the three-week race, Alberto Contador and Chris Froome, finished in the trailing pack that clocked the same time as Kittel.
Jens Voigt took the polka-dot jersey as the best climber. At 42, he’s the oldest competitor: This is his 17th Tour, tying the record.
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