Tour de France 2019 result: Mike Teunissen wins stage one in photo finish over Peter Sagan
The Dutch rider clinched the first stage and will wear yellow on Sunday
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Your support makes all the difference.Dutch rider Mike Teunissen pipped Peter Sagan on the line to win stage one of the 2019 Tour de France in Brussels.
Local favourite Greg van Avermaet made an early impression, racing up the first categorised climb to ensure he will wear the famous polka dot jersey in Sunday's team time-trial.
Teunissen's Jumbo-Visma teammate Dylan Groenewegen crashed just before the final kilometre and looked in some discomfort.
Alexander Kristoff and Peter Sagan could also feature in what will be a fiercely contested stage win and yellow jersey.
For the big GC riders like Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal (both Team Ineos), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain–Merida) and Jakob Fugslang (Astana), the priority will simply be to get through the day unscathed.
Here's everything you need to know about stage 1:
When does it start? The race starts at around 11.25am BST (12.25pm local time).
Odds: The favourite for the stage is Groenewegen (6/4) ahead of Viviani (3/1) and Ewan (4/1).
What is the route? A flat an opening stage which begins and ends in the Belgian capital via a loop south to Charleroi and west via Mur de Grammont.
1km to go: Over a bridge, through a narrowed section and up a slight incline as they head to the flamme rouge, and there's a crash! it's a big one and Dylan Groenewegen is down and out of this one!
500m to go: Here we go then, the remaining riders go for a sprint finish, Michael Matthews is there, and Sagan...
PHOTO FINISH! Was it Sagan? Colbrelli was there, Michael Matthews...
None of the below... It's Mike Teunissen of Jumbo-Visma! Groenewegen's teammate grabs it after their No1 sprinter crashed out.
Thrilling finish, that. Sagan was so so close but was pipped on the line by a matter of inches by Teunissen. The 26-year-old wins his first ever Tour de France stage, and he will wear the famous yellow jersey tomorrow for the first time too. What a moment that will be for the Dutch rider.
Mike Teunissen speaks!
"I cannot believe it, we've been working weeks, months to bring Dylan to the yellow jersey, but then he crashed in the final 1.5k. I heard he went down and then I just saw everyone fading and I felt fresh and I decided to go for it. It will take me some days to imagine this. You can dream about it but it's pretty nice. It's actually shifting quickly because tomorrow is a big goal (team time-trial)."
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