A collision between Tony Martin and a spectator's placard led to a huge crash in the peloton on the first stage of the Tour de France.

Shortly after Ide Schelling had topped the final climb of the 197.8 kilometre ride from Brest to Landerneau to ensure he will finish the stage in the polka dot jersey, Martin was sent careering to the tarmac, his crash sending scores of riders to the ground.

The incident led the front of the race to be neutralised to allow those caught up in the crash to catch up, but Jasha Sutterlin of DSM was not able to do so.

Sutterlin was forced to abandon the race in an extremely unfortunate turn of events for a rider competing in only his second Tour.

Schelling was eventually caught by the peloton once the race was allowed to restart at normal speed.