Team Omega Pharma-Lotto's Philippe Gilbert won today's stage 1 of the 2011 Tour de France to take the yellow leader's jersey, while defending champion Alberto Contador lost more than a minute because of a late crash.

The Belgian champion, who dazzled fans by winning three classics in April, left it late before speeding ahead from the pack and kissing his National Champion jersey as he crossed the line.

"It was the last 500 meters, I had a lead ... (and) I went for it," Gilbert said and added "It was an extreme effort and I was able to take advantage."

Gilbert, who has notched 13 victories between race and stage wins this year, had been a favorite to win the opening stage.

He clocked 4 hours, 41 minutes, 31 seconds for the sun-baked 191.5 kilometer (119 mile) ride from La Barre-de-Monts to Mont des Alouettes in the western Vendee region.

Two-time Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia and Team BMC Racing was second, three seconds back -- making him the best performer among the expected title contenders -- and Norway's Thor Hushovd was third, six seconds off the pace.

Evans showed impressive form and major guts by fighting his way up the final hill in an admirable attack on his fellow GC contenders who rode passively watching each other. Today Evans once again showed viewers why he deserves to win the overall Tour de France champion title.

"George (Hincapie) helped me really well going into the bottom of the climb and I was really perfectly positioned," Evans told Roadcycling.com and our mobile sister site Roadcycling.mobi after the stage.

"I thought I would go conservatively but then a Katusha or Astana rider attacked and I got a bit closed in. I tried to go across to Gilbert, but it was just a little bit too late," Evans added.

The 3,430-kilometer (2,131-mile) race that ends July 24 on Paris' Champs-Elysees is shaping up as a battle among riders like Contador and last year's runner-up Andy Schleck of Luxembourg. Three-time champion Contador, a Spaniard, beat Schleck by just 39 seconds last year.

However, they both ran into trouble towards the end of today's stage.

With about nine kilometers (5.5 miles) left, Astana rider Maxim Iglinskiy knocked shoulders with a fan on the roadside, causing a mass crash that delayed defending Tour de France champion Contador -- who was positioned too far back in the peloton -- and split the pack. About 40 riders stayed in front. Spaniard Contador finished 01:20 after Gilbert and is now 82nd overall thanks to a major failure by his team.

Schleck too got slowed down by yet another crash near the end, and finished the stage in 39th place. But according to race rules about crashes within last three kilometers, he was credited with the same time as the pack he was in - six seconds behind Gilbert - and placed 33rd overall. Thanks to the race rule, Schleck could pedal easily towards the finish line, while his GC competitors had to ride hard.

Among other possible title contenders, Belgium's Jurgen Van den Broeck lies fifth overall, Team RadioShack's Levi Leipheimer of the United States is 38th, and Briton Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) trails in 50th place -- all six seconds behind the Belgian stage winner.

"It's one of these unfortunate accidents that often occur in the beginning of the Tour de France. Alberto (Contador) is simply unlucky now to be behind some of his opponents to the overall victory but the Tour de France has just begun and luckily, there's a long to Paris from here," Contador boss and Saxo Bank-SunGard team owner Bjarne Riis concluded after the stage.

A total of five crashes took down riders in the nervous debut stage, including Movistar leader David Arroyo of Spain and German Linus Gerdemann, the Leopard-Trek rider who won the Tour of Luxembourg this year.

Belgium's Jelle Vanendert paid for his courtesy. Near the front of the main pack around the 63-kilometer (39-mile) mark, the Team Omega Pharma-Lotto rider held out his left arm to warn those behind him of a roadway median - a gesture that caused him to lose control of his bike. He tumbled to the ground with his helmet bouncing and his sunglasses skidding away, while several others fell in his wake. All of those involved returned to the race.

While the stage was mostly flat, the end was tricky. Riders had to scale the bumpy Mont des Alouettes - a three-kilometer (1.8-mile) hill - up to the finish, so it was not tailor-made for traditional sprinters.

In a break with recent tradition, the Tour de France opener this year was not an individual time trial prologue, with riders instead embarking right away on a full stage. However, tomorrow awaits a team time trial for the Tour riders.

2nd in the General Classification, Evans says he is looking forward to the 23 km team time trial. "It's going to be another important test. Hopefully we can have a repeat of gaining seconds today. That would be the ultimate."

Click here for complete stage 1 results.