Kiwi cyclist George Bennett got off to a rough start at this year's Tour de France after crashing twice during the opening stage on Sunday (NZ time).
Bennett finished the stage in 166th, more than five minutes behind Norwegian winner Alexander Kristoff.
Rain made the roads treacherous and led to several crashes, with French cyclist Valentin Madouas saying it was like racing on an "ice rink".
Bennett got caught up in two crashes in the latter stages of the race with his first coming 28km from the finish after falling off his bike approaching a hairpin turn.
He was in visible pain but managed to get back on his bike and eventually catch the back of the peloton, but involved in another fall when a large group crashed inside the final 3km.
Jack Bauer was the pick of the Kiwis as he crossed the line in 31st amongst the leading peloton.
For Kristoff, he was pleased to win the yellow jersey heading into the 186km mountainous second stage on Monday.
"You can't dream of a better start," he said.
We have a team of climbers and didn't think of winning the sprints, at least not so early on, but I felt really strong in the final kilometres and going to the line.
"I saw I was going to win. It was an amazing feeling and I'm really proud of what I was able to do."
Meanwhile, French health authorities have announced that teams will be expelled from the Tour de France if two or more of their members, including staff, test positive for the coronavirus within a week.
There are 22 squads of eight riders competing at the Tour, but a total of 30 members per team when staff are included.
France has had more than 273,000 confirmed cases and 30,000 deaths.
