22 year old Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) took his first career Tour de France stage victory on Sunday, winning a sprint finish over overall leader Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan). Cancellara took off for the line with 1.5km left to go, but Sagan latched on to his wheel and easily came around the yellow jersey holder for the win. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) took third. A breakaway spent most off the day off the front, but Team Radioshack-Nissan made sure to preserve Cancellara's lead. Pacific Northwest native Chris Horner and teammates spent much of the day on the front, and the breakaway was caught with 9km left to go. There was no change in the top five of the General Classification.
The other local area representative in the race, Tyler Farrar of Team Garmin-Sharp had an uneventful day in the saddle. Farrar likely would have contended in a bunch sprint, but Cancellara's move prevented that and Farrar finished with the pack. Defending champion Cadel Evans (Team BMC) also had a calm day, avoiding any trouble and remaining in a solid GC position.
The General Classification after Stage 1:
1) Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) 5:05:32
2) Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling) +:07
3) Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) +:07
4) Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) +:10
5) Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling) +:11
6) Denis Menchov (Katusha Team) +:13
7) Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) +:13
8) Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) +:17
9) Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +:18
10) Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin - Sharp) +:18
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