Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe won the first stage of the Tour de France, a 197.8-km from Brest, to take the inaugural leader's yellow jersey on Saturday.
The world champion burst away from the main pack with 2.3-km left of a brutal climb up to the Cote de la Fosse aux Loups, and none of his rivals could match his power.
Australian Michael Matthews took second place, with Slovenian Primoz Roglic coming home third.
The first stage was marred by two huge crashes which felled numerous riders.
A roadside spectator holding a cardboard banner caused a massive pile-up during the first stage of the Tour de France, which left several top riders being held, while another huge pileup with about 7 kilometres left brought down Chris Froome and others.
In the first crash, German Tony Martin was sent tumbling when he rode straight into the sign that said "Allez Opi-Omi" (Come on grandad-granny, in a mix of French and German) amid scenes of chaos with 47 kilometres left.
Overall contenders Tao Geoghegan Hart of Britain, as well as Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez, were among the riders being held up, potentially losing time on the opening day of the three-week race.
Belgian Wout van Aert, one of the favourites for the stage win, was also slowed down but made it back to the main bunch after a long effort.
German Jasha Suetterlin of Team DSM was consequently the first rider to abandon the race after being sent to the ground by the crash.
The second crash brought down Froome and many others including Marc Haller, Andre Greipel and Ion Izagirre.
Ireland's Dan Martin, who said this week he was concentrated on the mountain stages later in the race, lost 5.33 to the leader and sits well down the field.
