Sam Bennett was fourth as Alexander Kristoff won a rain-hit opening stage of the Tour de France.
Norway's Kristoff outsprinted Danish world champion Mads Pedersen, Dutchman Cees Bol and Bennett in a bunch sprint after 3 hours, 46 minutes, 23 seconds and 156 km around Nice.
Irishman Bennett crashed earlier in the stage and also suffered a puncture but recovered from both setbacks to be among the battle for the line.
Home favourite Thibaut Pinot was one of several riders to take a tumble on slippery roads and trailed by some distance but he will be credited with the same time as the winner since the massive crash he was involved in occurred within three kilometres of the finish line on the Promenade des Anglais.
Nicolas Roche (102nd) and Daniel Martin (118th) were both caught up in the same crash and didn't lose any time either.
Colombian Nairo Quintana, twice a Tour runner-up, fell earlier while Pavel Sivakov, one of defending champion Egan Bernal's key lieutenants, hit the ground twice.
Pre-stage favourites Caleb Ewan and Giacomo Nizzolo also crashed on slippery roads as rain wreaked havoc during the stage.
An eventful first stage was won by 🇳🇴 Kristoff as he sprinted ahead to claim Yellow!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) August 29, 2020
🎬 Relive the final kilometre!
Une première étape mouvementée remportée par 🇳🇴 Kristoff, qui décroche le premier Maillot Jaune au sprint !
🎬 Revivez le dernier kilomètre#TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/spt3g058tu
Kristoff said afterwards: "I always dreamt about wearing the yellow jersey and it's a dream come true. You can't dream of a better start.
"We have a team for the climbers, so we didn't really expect to win a sprint, at least not so early on.
"I felt really strong in the final kilometres and going to the line I saw I was going to win. It was an amazing feeling and I'm really proud of what I managed to do.
"My run-in to this Tour has not been great, I had no results to show for. I crashed in the European Championships so I was a bit banged up, but it didn't affect me today so I'm very happy.
"It means a lot for my career and a stage win shows I can still be up there even at 33 years old and with four kids. I still manage to perform so I'm very happy about that."
