Rain, winding descents, and race nerves led to numerous crashes around Nice during the first stage of the Tour de France.

Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) was involved in the first crash after 50km. Later, Julien Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) also had trouble changing bikes and crashed again after a solo chase downhill.

Sivakov was bleeding from both arms and struggling to control his bike. Ineos Grenadier let Sivakov ride alone.

On the first descent of the Côte de Limies, rain fell on the riders, causing more spills. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) also briefly left the back of the peloton as the peloton was split on the descent.

Nairo Quintana (Arkea Samsic) crashed at the top of the Côte de Limiez, but quickly jumped back on his bike.

Other crashes in the city center of Nice included Ilnur Zakarin (CCC Team), Kevin Ledanois (Akea Samsic), Dominco Pozzovivo (NTT Pro Cycling), and Caleb Yuan (Lotto Soudal); Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling), Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain McLaren) and others crashed, and Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) was also distanced until the peloton eased up in a show of solidarity.

Luke Rowe of Ineos Grenadiers and George Bennett of the Jumbo Visma team tried to convince the peloton to drive carefully in the rain, but others were eager to continue racing.

Veteran Tony Martin (Jumbo-Visma) tried to convince the peloton to ride carefully, waving his arms. Astana tried to pick up the pace, but Cycling Karma intervened and Miguel Angel Lopez locked up his brakes, slowly crashing into a sign post.

The peloton then decided to slow down and ride the final climb and descent together, then back along the coastal road.

At the request of many riders, the race commissaire decided to time the overall with 3 km to go to avoid any danger in the finale.

The final crash brought down many riders, including Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), but because the crash occurred about 10 meters inside the 3 km mark, all affected riders were given the same time as Christophe.

"Everyone crashed all over the place, but I told myself it would be easier than running on the Norwegian ice," Kristoff said.

"I think I made the right decision to take it easy on the downhill to avoid losing a big competitor on the first day.