An eventful 2016 Tour de France completes its first phase

The Tour de France has reached its first rest day on the road to Paris, and it's been a vintage edition already.

The peloton rides through the Spanish countryside during stage nine of the 2016 Tour de France (Getty) Source: Getty Images

The first week saw the fastest sprinters in the world duking it out over a number of flat stages - one of which saw the riders take an unofficial rest day, travelling at an average of 32km/h for much of the stage.

 

Resurgent British sprinter Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) was the clear winner in the sprints, winningthree out of four flat finishes and snagging the first yellow jersey of the race.

The overall race lead changed hands several times in the first week, with Cavendish handing the maillot jaune over to World Champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) on Stage 2. Sagan held the race lead until Stage 5, when Belgian single-day race specialist Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing) launched a sneak attack from a breakway to wear the yellow jersey.

However, it was pre-race favourite Chris Froome (Team Sky) who was the big winner from the first week, taking the race lead by 23 seconds on the first major mountain stage with an unorthodox, and unexpected attack on a 100km/h descent. He also caused controversy by punching a spectator who got a little too close on a climb - incurring a fine from race authorities.

It wasn't all good news for everyone, though: Former two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) left the race after crashing twice in the first two days and coming down with a fever. Tasmanian Richie Porte (BMC) also saw his victory hopes dented after puncturing and losing time on Stage 2.

Brit Adam Yates, riding for Australian team Orica-BikeExchange, also crashed in a bizarre incident on Stage 7 which saw the inflatable one-kilometre-to-go marker collapse in front of him, causing him to faceplant at high speed. Four stitches later, Yates was able to continue in the race: it's a good job too, because he's currently in second place and the holder of the white best young rider jersey.

All this and the race isn't even at the halfway point. Don't miss out on a minute of the action to come - SBS has got you covered with more Tour de France coverage than ever before on TV and online!