The 104th edition of the Tour de France is under way in rainy and slippery conditions.
Making his Tour debut on his 22nd birthday, French rider Elie Gesbert is the first competitor on course in stage one, an almost entirely flat 14km individual time trial up and down the banks of the Rhine River in downtown Dusseldorf. Gesbert is also the youngest rider in the field.
The 198th and last rider slated to start is three-time champion Chris Froome at just after 6.30pm local time.
The stage winner will wear the first leader's yellow jersey of the race.
It's the fourth time the Tour has started in Germany and the first since 1987, when riders set out in West Berlin.
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The three-week Tour concludes in Paris on July 23.
