Mark Cavendish completed a carefully calculated but painful survival battle on the first stage of the Tour de France between Florence and Rimini. Despite vomiting early on and suffering from the extreme heat of the Italian summer, he managed to finish on the last gruppetto and live to fight another day.

"It was starry-eyed painful," he admitted.

Most stages of the Tour de France focus on the front of the race. The first stage was notable for who suffered and dropped out of the peloton, both on the first climb, more than 160 km from the finish, and on the series of climbs in the Apennines towards Rimini and the Adriatic coast.

Cavendish suffered as he was surrounded by his teammates to make it to Rimini within the time limit, hoping to break the record for stage wins in this year's Tour de France.

He eventually crossed the finish line with leadout and teammate Mikhail Molkov, along with Cees Bol, Yevgeniy Fedorov, and Davide Ballerini. Unfortunately, Michele Gazzoli was unable to finish the race. Fabio Jacobsen (Dsm-Firmenich PostNL) was also part of the final gruppetto.

Cycling News witnessed Cavendish trying to recover from his effort by pouring cold water over his head and quietly celebrating his stage survival with his teammates. He continued on his way to the Astana Kazakstan team bus, where he was cheered on by a large crowd.

After a brief recovery, he emerged from the bus and explained how he had made it through the day. He then prepared to follow his teammates and enjoyed a brief moment in the ice bath placed in the team vehicle.

"The heat hit a lot of people," Cavendish said, seemingly at least partially recovered from his great struggle.

"If you're in the shape I'm in right now, don't start cycling.

Cavendish and his Astana Kazakstan team car were in control of their destiny, calculating and pacing their efforts on a series of climbs on the road to Rimini.

"But we know what we're doing. We're not running while we talk. But we had a plan and we stuck to it. I would have liked to have gone one more step up with the peloton, but we were looking at the stars.

"It's a little boring, but that's what cycling is all about.

"It makes for a good story, but the time limit isn't there to get you out of the race.

Cavendish is alive to fight another day, and the second stage, Bologna, will present few problems due to the flat roads in the early stages. His first chance to fight for victory will come on the stage to Turin, where the first group sprint is expected.

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