Rowe finishes off Tour of Britain stage for Sky

Cavendish, the 2011 world champion, fell inside the final three kilometres of the 203km opening stage as riders touched wheels along the narrow lanes of Norfolk.

"The past month I have started to find my feet and adapt to the level of racing and I came into here with quite a lot of confidence," Rowe said.

"It was a race I always wanted to do, so to get called up and now to win a stage is pretty special really."

Tour de France winner and Olympic time trial gold medallist Bradley Wiggins had started the race off at Ipswich Waterfront and the Briton will forego the Team GB victory parade in London on Monday when the riders head to Nottingham.

"Luke deserves it, he has been knocking on the door all year, has had some third and fourth places - what a day to shine for him," said Wiggins, who also took a tumble in the bunched finish.

"I have had easier days on the bike, but it was nice to be back in the team racing, to have a job, a role and routine."

Despite the sweltering temperatures, the route was lined with enthusiastic spectators, many of whom were keen to pay tribute to Wiggins for his recent triumphs.

"(The support) is on a par with the Tour de France, but you kind of expect it to be like that now with the Olympics and everything else we have done. However, it is really nice," Wiggins said.

A group of four, including Kristian House of Rapha Condor, Rony Martias of Saur Sojasun, United Healthcare's Jonny Clarke and AN Post's Niels Wytinck, made an early break from the peloton.

As the 203km course moved up along the East Anglia coast and on past the halfway stage, they had opened up a lead of around three minutes and 30sec over the chasing pack.

But the peloton closed in to under two minutes behind the breakaway ahead of the final King of the Mountains category three climbs at Swanton Morley.

The bunch finish seemed to be to Cavendish's advantage as he had managed to stay clear of some collisions after the peloton was finally reeled in inside the closing 15 kilometres.

However, as the group headed for home, Cavendish was caught up in another crash and his stage bid was effectively over.

The eight-stage Tour of Britain continues with a 180.7km stage from Nottingham to Knowsley.

Stage 1: 203km, Ipswich to Norfolk Showground
1 Luke Rowe (GBr) Sky 4hr 51min 05sec
2 Boy Van Poppel (NED) UnitedHealthcare 
3 Russell Downing (GBR) Endura 
4 Jeremie Galland (FRA) Saur-Sojasun 
5 Peter Hawkins (IRL) IG-Sigma Sport 
6 Rony Martias (FRA) Saur-Sojasun 
7 Barry Markus (NED) Vacansoleil-DCM 
8 Paolo Longo Borghini (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale 
9 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (GBR) Endura 
10 Ben Grenda (AUS) Rapha Condor 

General classification
1 Luke Rowe (GBR) Sky 4hr 50min 55sec 
2 Rony Martias (FRA) Saur-Sojasun 0:00:03 
3 Boy Van Poppel (NED) UnitedHealthcare 0:00:04 
4 Russell Downing (GBR) Endura 0:00:06 
5 Jeremie Galland (FRA) Saur-Sojasun 0:00:10 
6 Peter Hawkins (IRL) IG-Sigma Sport 
7 Barry Markus (NED) Vacansoleil-DCM 
8 Paolo Longo Borghini (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale 
9 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (GBR) Endura 
10 Ben Grenda (AUS) Rapha Condor