Chris Froome struck an early blow on his Tour de France rivals as his Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas won the opening stage in Dusseldorf on Saturday.

It was a great day for Britain and Sky, as Thomas will wear the coveted leader&#39;s yellow jersey for the first time on Sunday.

&quot;I didn&#39;t really expect it, I didn&#39;t know what to expect,&quot; said Thomas.

&quot;To win a stage is incredible and to get the yellow jersey on top is an amazing cherry.&quot;

Reigning champion Froome put more than 30 seconds of time into his main rivals for overall victory as he tamed the tricky course and conditions better than they did.

For Sky it was a great success with four riders in the top eight as 2015 world time-trial campion Vasil Kiryienka took third and 2014 world road race champion Michal Kwiatkowski was eighth, two places behind Froome.

Swiss time-trial champion Stefan Kung was the closest to Thomas, finishing second at just five seconds off the winning time of 16min 04sec.

Even four-time world champion Tony Martin, the German who had dreamt of winning the opening stage in his home country, could not deny Thomas as he managed only fourth, despite leading at the only time check after 8.1km.

But while Froome, Sky and Britain celebrated, is was a bad day for Colombian Nairo Quintana and his Movistar team as his chief domestique Alejandro Valverde crashed out of the race.

Spanish veteran Valverde, who was third overall two years ago, crashed hard on a slippery bend in miserable wet conditions and was visibly in great pain.

The 37-year-old seemed to jar his left leg when he touched his foot down as he lost his back wheel, before skidding hard into the metal crash barriers.

It was immediately clear he wouldn&#39;t be able to continue but his team frantically tried to move him as he was stranded on the apex of a tricky bend, with many other riders set to come around it having set off at one minute intervals.

&quot;Unfortunately @alejanvalverde cannot continue in the race. What sadness to finish a Tour on the first day,&quot; said Movistar on Twitter.

Not only will Quintana be without one of his key lieutenants in the mountains, but he lost 36 seconds to Froome.

That was par for Froome&#39;s main rivals with Australian Richie Porte losing 35 seconds, Frenchman Romain Bardet 39sec back and two-time former winner Alberto Contador giving up 42sec.

&#39;I was nervous&#39;&nbsp;

Porte had beaten Froome in a time-trial at last month&#39;s main warm-up event the Criterium du Dauphine, but he said he had felt uneasy in the wet.

&quot;I was cautious. It was slippery. It wasn&#39;t the best time-trial for me,&quot; he said.&nbsp;

&quot;I was nervous. It was better to take no risks.&quot;

Froome said his own strong showing was no surprise.

&quot;I&#39;d done a lot of time-trial training over the last few weeks since the Dauphine. It wasn&#39;t lucky that I did a good time-trial,&quot; he said.

Frenchman Elie Gesbert, on his 22nd birthday, had been the first rider to set off under grey skies and a sprinkling of rain as the 2017 Tour got underway.

The early lead changed hands several times before Kiryienka of Belarus posted a mark of 16:11.

His Sky team-mate Kwiatkowski matched Kiryienka&#39;s time of 9:20 at the time check, but he couldn&#39;t maintain that pace and finished eight seconds back.

But the time was beaten by another Sky rider as fast finishing Welshman Thomas, who was three seconds down at the time check, took seven seconds off the finish line marker.

Martin, as expected, went quickest by a second at the time check, but he faded over the second part of the course and an anxious looking Thomas breathed a sigh of relief.

But he had to wait until Froome crossed the line, around 45 minutes after he had done, before he could celebrate.&nbsp;

Reigning champion Froome put more than 30 seconds of time into his main rivals

Chris Froome struck an early blow on his Tour de France rivals as his Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas won the opening stage in Dusseldorf on Saturday. It was a great day for Britain and Sky, as Thomas will wear the coveted leader's yellow jersey for the first time on Sunday. "I didn't really expect it, I didn't know what to expect," said Thomas. "To win a stage is incredible and to get the yellow jersey on top is an amazing cherry." Reigning champion Froome put more than 30 seconds of time into his main rivals for overall victory as he tamed the tricky course and conditions better than they did. For Sky it was a great success with four riders in the top eight as 2015 world time-trial campion Vasil Kiryienka took third and 2014 world road race champion Michal Kwiatkowski was eighth, two places behind Froome. Swiss time-trial champion Stefan Kung was the closest to Thomas, finishing second at just five seconds off the winning time of 16min 04sec. Even four-time world champion Tony Martin, the German who had dreamt of winning the opening stage in his home country, could not deny Thomas as he managed only fourth, despite leading at the only time check after 8.1km. But while Froome, Sky and Britain celebrated, is was a bad day for Colombian Nairo Quintana and his Movistar team as his chief domestique Alejandro Valverde crashed out of the race. Spanish veteran Valverde, who was third overall two years ago, crashed hard on a slippery bend in miserable wet conditions and was visibly in great pain. The 37-year-old seemed to jar his left leg when he touched his foot down as he lost his back wheel, before skidding hard into the metal crash barriers. It was immediately clear he wouldn't be able to continue but his team frantically tried to move him as he was stranded on the apex of a tricky bend, with many other riders set to come around it having set off at one minute intervals. "Unfortunately @alejanvalverde cannot continue in the race. What sadness to finish a Tour on the first day," said Movistar on Twitter. Not only will Quintana be without one of his key lieutenants in the mountains, but he lost 36 seconds to Froome. That was par for Froome's main rivals with Australian Richie Porte losing 35 seconds, Frenchman Romain Bardet 39sec back and two-time former winner Alberto Contador giving up 42sec. 'I was nervous' Porte had beaten Froome in a time-trial at last month's main warm-up event the Criterium du Dauphine, but he said he had felt uneasy in the wet. "I was cautious. It was slippery. It wasn't the best time-trial for me," he said. "I was nervous. It was better to take no risks." Froome said his own strong showing was no surprise. "I'd done a lot of time-trial training over the last few weeks since the Dauphine. It wasn't lucky that I did a good time-trial," he said. Frenchman Elie Gesbert, on his 22nd birthday, had been the first rider to set off under grey skies and a sprinkling of rain as the 2017 Tour got underway. The early lead changed hands several times before Kiryienka of Belarus posted a mark of 16:11. His Sky team-mate Kwiatkowski matched Kiryienka's time of 9:20 at the time check, but he couldn't maintain that pace and finished eight seconds back. But the time was beaten by another Sky rider as fast finishing Welshman Thomas, who was three seconds down at the time check, took seven seconds off the finish line marker. Martin, as expected, went quickest by a second at the time check, but he faded over the second part of the course and an anxious looking Thomas breathed a sigh of relief. But he had to wait until Froome crossed the line, around 45 minutes after he had done, before he could celebrate.

Tour de France: Geraint Thomas gets yellow, Froome gets advantage

Tour de France favourites Chris Froome and Richie Porte believe this year&#39;s race will keep fans enthralled right to the end.

With a limited number of high mountain summit finishes and only 36.5km of time-trialling, Australian Porte says the other stages will be a &quot;free for all&quot; that could &quot;turn the race upside down&quot; while Froome insisted it will &quot;favour more aggressive riders&quot;.

Briton Froome is aiming for a fourth Tour title having won already in 2013, 2015 and last year, while Porte, his former Team Sky domestique, is looking to deliver on his strong pre-Tour form.

Throw in the likes of last year&#39;s Vuelta a Espana winner Nairo Quintana, Spanish veteran and two-time former champion Alberto Contador, French hope Romain Bardet and Criterium du Dauphine winner Jakob Fuglsang, and a major battle is expected over the next three weeks.

With 3,540km of racing ahead, starting with Saturday&#39;s 14km time-trial around Dusseldorf, much will happen before the Grand Boucle arrives in Paris on July 23, but Froome&#39;s Sky boss Dave Brailsford believes no-one can afford to simply sit back and wait to see what others are doing.

&quot;It&#39;s pretty obvious that whoever&#39;s going to win this race is going to have to be pretty offensive,&quot; said Brailsford.

&quot;It&#39;s going to be a pretty open and exciting race, one where you&#39;ve got to be on the front foot. It&#39;s not going to be a defensive race, it&#39;s going to be an aggressive race.&quot;

Despite having already won three Tours and having become a father since his last success, Froome insists he hasn&#39;t lost any of the desire that took him to the top in the first place.

&quot;The hunger hasn&#39;t got any less for me, I&#39;m as motivated as ever as I&#39;ve got so much more to race for now,&quot; said Froome, who like Porte is 32.

&quot;This is potentially my fourth Tour de France title I&#39;m here to try to get.

&quot;It&#39;s massive, the challenge is even bigger this year. I feel as if the level of my rivals is even higher, on a difficult course as well.

&quot;I&#39;m here with all the motivation I had before.&quot;

&#39;More than a two-horse race&#39;&nbsp;

Froome and Porte have been taking turns this week to proclaim the other as the race favourite but Porte did admit that he doesn&#39;t feel Froome&#39;s Sky team is the &quot;steamroller&quot; it once was.

&quot;Sky is probably not as strong as it was in the past, but how it affects their tactics I don&#39;t know,&quot; he said.

The Australian warned against focussing on a straight battle between him and his old team-mate, though.

&quot;I don&#39;t think it&#39;s just going to be between Chris and I, there&#39;s so many brilliant bike riders here, you can&#39;t just focus on two guys,&quot; he said.

&quot;It&#39;s more than a two-horse race.&quot;

Certainly, Colombian Quintana will be aiming for overall victory having finished second to Froome in 2013 and 2015 and third last year, when Bardet took second.

He&#39;s changed his preparation this year by riding in May&#39;s Giro d&#39;Italia, believing he performs better in his second Grand Tour of the year than the first.

Contador knows how to win the Tour, although his best years are probably behind him.

His best Tour finish since being stripped of a third win in 2010 for doping was fourth in 2013.

Twice in the last three years he&#39;s failed to finish due to crashes.

Bardet&#39;s entire season revolves around the Tour while Dauphine winner Fuglsang could be a dark horse.

Quintana&#39;s Moivistar team-mate Alejandro Valverde has been the stand-out rider this year, winning the tours of Catalonia, Andalusia, Murcia and the Basque Country, as well as the two Ardennes Classics in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Fleche Wallonne.

He wasn&#39;t at his best in the Dauphine but showed he&#39;s not lost any of his attacking flair as he launched a daring bid for victory on the final stage climb to the finish alongside Fabio Aru, the 2015 Vuelta winner from Italy and another strong outsider.

Bookies reckon it is a two-horse race between multiple champion Chris Froome and Richie Porte, though the nature of stages this years has made it difficult to predict the winner

Tour de France favourites Chris Froome and Richie Porte believe this year's race will keep fans enthralled right to the end. With a limited number of high mountain summit finishes and only 36.5km of time-trialling, Australian Porte says the other stages will be a "free for all" that could "turn the race upside down" while Froome insisted it will "favour more aggressive riders". Briton Froome is aiming for a fourth Tour title having won already in 2013, 2015 and last year, while Porte, his former Team Sky domestique, is looking to deliver on his strong pre-Tour form. Throw in the likes of last year's Vuelta a Espana winner Nairo Quintana, Spanish veteran and two-time former champion Alberto Contador, French hope Romain Bardet and Criterium du Dauphine winner Jakob Fuglsang, and a major battle is expected over the next three weeks. With 3,540km of racing ahead, starting with Saturday's 14km time-trial around Dusseldorf, much will happen before the Grand Boucle arrives in Paris on July 23, but Froome's Sky boss Dave Brailsford believes no-one can afford to simply sit back and wait to see what others are doing. "It's pretty obvious that whoever's going to win this race is going to have to be pretty offensive," said Brailsford. "It's going to be a pretty open and exciting race, one where you've got to be on the front foot. It's not going to be a defensive race, it's going to be an aggressive race." Despite having already won three Tours and having become a father since his last success, Froome insists he hasn't lost any of the desire that took him to the top in the first place. "The hunger hasn't got any less for me, I'm as motivated as ever as I've got so much more to race for now," said Froome, who like Porte is 32. "This is potentially my fourth Tour de France title I'm here to try to get. "It's massive, the challenge is even bigger this year. I feel as if the level of my rivals is even higher, on a difficult course as well. "I'm here with all the motivation I had before." 'More than a two-horse race' Froome and Porte have been taking turns this week to proclaim the other as the race favourite but Porte did admit that he doesn't feel Froome's Sky team is the "steamroller" it once was. "Sky is probably not as strong as it was in the past, but how it affects their tactics I don't know," he said. The Australian warned against focussing on a straight battle between him and his old team-mate, though. "I don't think it's just going to be between Chris and I, there's so many brilliant bike riders here, you can't just focus on two guys," he said. "It's more than a two-horse race." Certainly, Colombian Quintana will be aiming for overall victory having finished second to Froome in 2013 and 2015 and third last year, when Bardet took second. He's changed his preparation this year by riding in May's Giro d'Italia, believing he performs better in his second Grand Tour of the year than the first. Contador knows how to win the Tour, although his best years are probably behind him. His best Tour finish since being stripped of a third win in 2010 for doping was fourth in 2013. Twice in the last three years he's failed to finish due to crashes. Bardet's entire season revolves around the Tour while Dauphine winner Fuglsang could be a dark horse. Quintana's Moivistar team-mate Alejandro Valverde has been the stand-out rider this year, winning the tours of Catalonia, Andalusia, Murcia and the Basque Country, as well as the two Ardennes Classics in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Fleche Wallonne. He wasn't at his best in the Dauphine but showed he's not lost any of his attacking flair as he launched a daring bid for victory on the final stage climb to the finish alongside Fabio Aru, the 2015 Vuelta winner from Italy and another strong outsider.

Tour de France preview: Less mountain summit finishes favour aggressive riding

Leader Chris Froome&#39;s knee and back will play a pivotal role in how &nbsp;today penultimate and likely decisive Tour de France stage pans out. 
 
The 31-year-old Briton has been pounding dominantly towards a third Tour title, without a single rival able to slow the Sky juggernaut.&nbsp;At least that&#39;s how things seemed until the yellow jersey wearer crashed on a slippery descent during Friday&#39;s 19th stage.&nbsp;Battered and bruised, his jersey torn and riding a teammate&#39;s bike to the finish, Froome lost only a handful of seconds to some of his rivals, while actually gaining time on others and extending his overall lead. 
 
But it is one thing to soldier on in the final 20 kilometres of a stage when the adrenaline is high, and quite another to tackle 146.5 kilometres of Alpine terrain with four categorised climbs if you&#39;re stiff, sore and in pain.&nbsp;What&#39;s more, it&#39;s expected to rain all day, creating more treacherous descents. 
 
Froome assured fans he was fine following Friday&#39;s stage but he took to the podium with a heavily bandaged knee.&nbsp;If ever there is a chance that this Tour race is not yet run, it will depend on Froome&#39;s physical condition on Saturday. 
 
&quot;I&#39;m OK, I&#39;m lucky nothing is seriously injured. I lost some skin and banged my knee a little bit, but today I&#39;m grateful to have that four-minute advantage to fall on a little bit,&quot; he said following Friday&#39;s stage.&nbsp;&quot;Saturday will be hard, I&#39;m sure I&#39;m going to be a bit sore and stiff from today, but hopefully I can rely on my teammates and just one last push again to get through tomorrow&#39;s stage now.&quot; 
 
Two years ago he crashed during the Criterium du Dauphine while in the lead, and although he got to the stage&#39;s end still in contention, the next day he suffered badly and lost several minutes, dropping out of the top 10. 
 
While his four minute 11 second advantage over second-placed Frenchman Romain Bardet should afford him ample breathing space, the raging battle for the other two podium positions should ensure the pace is high on Saturday and the attacks are numerous.&nbsp;Fabio Aru showed on Friday he&#39;s prepared to push the pace to try to drag himself onto the podium.&nbsp;He&#39;s sixth and just over a minute and a half off the podium so cannot afford to play a waiting game if he wants to claim a top-three finish. 
 
Bardet and third-placed Nairo Quintana are separated by only 16 seconds, with Adam Yates another 19 seconds further back, meaning those three should be trying to test each other.&nbsp;Bardet is the best descender of the three, meaning the other two will need to attack on the final hors category climb before the 12 kilometre descent to the finish in Morzine in order to displace the Frenchman. 
 
Fireworks will likely be going off all around Froome, what remains to be seen is whether or not he has the condition to keep calm and stay in control. 
 
(AFP)

Chris Froome has been pounding dominantly towards a third Tour title, but winning Saturday will depend on his physical condition

Leader Chris Froome's knee and back will play a pivotal role in how today penultimate and likely decisive Tour de France stage pans out. The 31-year-old Briton has been pounding dominantly towards a third Tour title, without a single rival able to slow the Sky juggernaut. At least that's how things seemed until the yellow jersey wearer crashed on a slippery descent during Friday's 19th stage. Battered and bruised, his jersey torn and riding a teammate's bike to the finish, Froome lost only a handful of seconds to some of his rivals, while actually gaining time on others and extending his overall lead. But it is one thing to soldier on in the final 20 kilometres of a stage when the adrenaline is high, and quite another to tackle 146.5 kilometres of Alpine terrain with four categorised climbs if you're stiff, sore and in pain. What's more, it's expected to rain all day, creating more treacherous descents. Froome assured fans he was fine following Friday's stage but he took to the podium with a heavily bandaged knee. If ever there is a chance that this Tour race is not yet run, it will depend on Froome's physical condition on Saturday. "I'm OK, I'm lucky nothing is seriously injured. I lost some skin and banged my knee a little bit, but today I'm grateful to have that four-minute advantage to fall on a little bit," he said following Friday's stage. "Saturday will be hard, I'm sure I'm going to be a bit sore and stiff from today, but hopefully I can rely on my teammates and just one last push again to get through tomorrow's stage now." Two years ago he crashed during the Criterium du Dauphine while in the lead, and although he got to the stage's end still in contention, the next day he suffered badly and lost several minutes, dropping out of the top 10. While his four minute 11 second advantage over second-placed Frenchman Romain Bardet should afford him ample breathing space, the raging battle for the other two podium positions should ensure the pace is high on Saturday and the attacks are numerous. Fabio Aru showed on Friday he's prepared to push the pace to try to drag himself onto the podium. He's sixth and just over a minute and a half off the podium so cannot afford to play a waiting game if he wants to claim a top-three finish. Bardet and third-placed Nairo Quintana are separated by only 16 seconds, with Adam Yates another 19 seconds further back, meaning those three should be trying to test each other. Bardet is the best descender of the three, meaning the other two will need to attack on the final hors category climb before the 12 kilometre descent to the finish in Morzine in order to displace the Frenchman. Fireworks will likely be going off all around Froome, what remains to be seen is whether or not he has the condition to keep calm and stay in control. (AFP)

Battered Froome faces final Tour challenge

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