Mark Cavendish fighting to stay in Tour de France already after brutal first stage

Mark Cavendish struggled badly on the first stage of the Tour and will need to recover quickly to have a chance in the first sprint finish on Monday. Photograph: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images

Mark Cavendish is fighting for survival in the Tour de France after suffering from apparent heatstroke and vomiting during the brutal opening stage of the race, from Florence to Rimini. The British sprinter, riding his last Tour, somehow made it through the stage, aided by four of his teammates, but finished over half an hour down on stage winner, Romain Bardet, of France.

The highly-regarded Bardet took the stage win and yellow jersey after attacking with dsm-firmenich PostNL team mate, Frank van den Broek, 40 kilometres from Rimini, on the climb of the Cote de Montemaggio. The duo entered the final 20km of racing with a 1min 30sec lead on the chasing peloton, but as the kilometres clicked down, their lead dwindled to a mere handful of seconds as they entered the final 1,000 metres.

But the pair held on to the line, with Bardet taking an emotional win and the overall race lead, in what is the final Tour appearance of his long career.

Cavendish was not the only one to suffer on a stage in which several pre-race favourites struggled. French hope David Gaudu, leader of the Groupama FDJ team, Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates lieutenant, Juan Ayuso, and Irish sprinter Sam Bennett, of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, were among those to be dropped by the main peloton.

On a route peppered with steep climbs, ridden in furnace conditions and clearly unsuited to his sprinting skills, the 39-year-old Cavendish suffered from the foot of the first climb to the finish line in Rimini, in what was a nightmare start to his campaign to claim a record-breaking 35th Tour stage.

Cavendish must now try to pick up the pieces. He also lost his Italian teammate, Michele Gazzoli, who quit the race after only 120km of the Tour, while the team’s Colombian climber, Harold Tejada, was also dropped by the main contenders in the final hour of racing.

Sunday’s second stage from Cesenatico to Bologna has yet more short sharp climbs, but with his eyes firmly on Monday’s first genuine sprint finish in Turin, Cavendish will be praying he can recover.