In-form Philippe Gilbert stormed to victory in Stage 1 of the 2011 Tour de France on Mont des Alouettes, grabbing the yellow jersey at least until Sunday's team time trial.
The Belgian Omega Pharma-Lotto rider has been in stunning form all season and proved plenty of pundits right by breaking away on the climb to the finish line.
"To win here in the Tour de France is something special," Gilbert said after the stage. "It is another dream. I’ve never won any stages. I’ve never had this yellow jersey before so, for me, it’s a very good day."
Cadel Evans of BMC Racing Team pushed him all the way and finished second, with Norwegian Thor Hushovd taking third place. Team Sky's Geraint Thomas lies sixth (he also heads the White Jersey standings), and could well be wearing yellow this time tomorrow, as his team is tipped to be very strong in the team time trial.
Thomas was happy just to stay out of trouble, especially as his team-mate Bradley Wiggins lost time on a chaotic day, no thanks to a late crash. "I felt great today as well, so it’s nice to have a prize jersey," the young Welshman said afterwards.
Fabian Cancellara of Leopard-Trek had launched a late attack off the front which looked like it could be decisive but Gilbert reacted strongly.
Contador loses out
A chaotic first stage saw several bad crashes, particularly inside the last 10km, with champion Alberto Contador caught up in a late accident and losing over a minute on the men at the front.
A three-man breakaway had led for most of the day - Jeremy Roy (Francais de Jeux), Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar) and Lieuwe Estra (Vacansoleil) but were reeled in inside the last 20km.
Mark Cavendish was caught out by Tyler Farrar at the only intermediate sprint of the day, with the peloton battling for fourth place after the three-man break got away.
The HTC-Highroad man looked to have the sprint won comfortably but Farrar moved easily through on his left side, and Cavendish appeared to sit up when he knew he was beaten.
Stage 1 result:
1. Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma) 4h 41 min 31 sec
2. Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) +03"
3. Thor Hushovd (Garmin) +06"
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) same time
5. Juergen van den Broeck (Omega Pharma) same time
6. Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) same time
7. Andreas Kloden (Radioshack) same time
8. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) same time
9. Christopher Horner (Radioshack) same time
10. Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) same time
Follow ITV Cycling on Twitter