PLUMELEC, France (AP):

ALEJANDRO VALVERDE won the first stage of the Tour de France yesterday.

The 28-year-old Spaniard will wear the race leader's yellow jersey after breaking away from the pack at the end of a 197.5-kilometre (122.7-mile) ride from Brest to Plumelec.

Valverde, who won the Dauphine Libere stage race last month, crossed the line ahead of Philippe Gilbert in second and Jerome Pineau in third.

"I've achieved two of my objectives: to win a stage and to wear the yellow jersey," Caisse d'Epargne rider Valverde said. "That's done today ... it gives me peace of mind for the rest of the race."

Valverde is among the favourites for the title, along with Australia's Cadel Evans and Russia's Denis Menchov.

Valverde finished the course in four hours, 36 minutes, seven seconds. Evans finished sixth, one second back, while Menchov was 26th, seven seconds behind the Spanish leader. Most of the other pre-race favourites were all within seven seconds of Valverde.

The Tour's 95th edition, which ends on July 27 in Paris, got off to a nervous start. Valverde's strategy was to avoid the crashes that often occur in the flat, early stages and the victory gives him a boost before the race's first big challenge - the Stage 4 individual time trial where Valverde could struggle.

crashes

Of the four crashes that marred the race debut, one took down Juan Mauricio Soler, the Colombian who was the Tour's best climber last year. He got back up, his hip and elbow blooded and jersey torn, and struggled across the finish line three minutes, four seconds behind Valverde. Soler was set to undergo X-rays on his left wrist later yesterday, the race medical team said.

France's Herve Duclos-Lassalle became the first rider to abandon the race. The Cofidis cyclist's debut Tour ended when he tumbled to the ground and broke his wrist after a fellow rider's refreshment bag got stuck in his front-wheel spokes.

Riders will cover more than 3,500km (2,175 miles) during the three-week race.

This year's race is taking place without defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain whose Astana team was banned by organisers after doping infractions by other riders.