Mark Cavendish denied he had been in serious danger of missing the time cut on a brutal but thrilling first stage
of the Tour de France on Saturday. The Manx rider, who was dropped on the opening climb of the day, was seen vomiting from his bike at one stage in searing 35C heat after the race rolled out of Florence. But after crossing the finish line along with the rest of the grupetto, 39 mins down on stage winner Romain Bardet, Cavendish insisted he and his team always “knew what they were doing”.]]>
