Mark Cavendish finished third on stage one of the 2014 Friends Life Tour of Britain as Marcel Kittel won a sprint finish in Liverpool.
Giant Shimano rider Kittel was the strongest at the death as the 104.8km stage ended as expected with a bunch sprint in front of huge crowds in the city centre.
Cavendish, racing for first time in Britain since his crash on stage one of the Tour de France in Harrogate, came behind Nicola Ruffoni in a disorganised finish.
The Manxman was then taken to hospital, revealing that he had suffered a crash earlier in the stage when making his way back to the peloton after a toilet break.
Dan McLay was the Great Britain Cycling Team’s best finisher, the Tour de l’Avenir stage winner placing seventh. Team Sky’s Ben Swift in fifth completed the Britons in the top ten.
The remainder of the Great Britain team - Tao Geoghagen Hart, Chris Lawless, Chris Latham, Germain Burton and Dan Pearson - all crossed the line in the bunch.
"I was coming back after and I was behind a car," Cavendish said.
"Someone had to stop for a puncture so the car slammed on its brakes, and there was an island in the road. If I went right, I would hit a traffic island, so I went left and I whacked another car. I hit it with my left leg and I was down on the road. I felt immediately a lot of pain on my quadriceps.
"It took me a lap to come back even because our team car couldn't assist me immediately because it was on the front. At that point I wasn't planning to sprint either, it was painful. But after a couple of laps we decided to just try anyway, but sprint seated because I was in pain.
"I still got third, but it's a shame because I really wanted to try and win in front of the British public. But accidents like this are a part of cycling and it's just a matter of bad luck. I really hope that the luck turns in the next days..."
Clear blue skies and huge support on the streets made for the perfect start for the 11th edition of the Tour of Britain.
Richard Handley (Rapha Condor Sharp), Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani CSF), Jon Mould (NTFO Pro Cycling) and Mark McNally (An Post-Chain Reaction) had attacked on the first lap of eight and built a lead of one minute and 10 seconds over the bunch heading into lap two.
By the end of lap five the gap had extended to one minute and 44 seconds but inevitably began to fall as the peloton applied the pressure.
Handley then dropped back with nine kilometres remaining and with 3.4km to go the race was back together.
NFTO’s Adam Blythe made his move first in the sprint but German Kittel came through to take the leader’s jersey.
Mould’s time bonuses from the intermediate sprints put him in third overall, the highest British rider.
McNally holds the SKODA King of the Mountains Jersey, Colbrelli the Yodel Direct Sprints Jersey and Ruffoni the Chain Reaction Cycles Points Jersey.
Monday’s stage two travels 200.8 kilometres from Knowsley to Llandudno. Follow live updates from every stage of the Tour of Britain on the British Cycling website.
Results
Stage one
General classification after stage one
