Philipsen claimed four stage wins in 2023 and finished that edition of the Tour with the green jersey as the points classification leader.

He said he had “dreamt” about wearing yellow.

Already I had the green jersey from two years ago but to have the yellow jersey hanging somewhere in my house is amazing,” he said.

A five-man breakaway was caught with more than 100km to go on the 184.9km loop route, which was affected by crosswinds and featured multiple crashes.

Ineos Grenadiers rider Filippo Ganna was forced to abandon after going down with British debutant Sean Flynn, and he was soon followed by fellow time-trial specialist Stefan Bissegger.

Benjamin Thomas will wear the polka-dot jersey as mountain leader after winning two of the day’s three climbs, wiping out Matteo Vercher as he lunged for the line to claim his second mountain point.

Then came the split, which resulted in Roglic and Evenepoel crossing 39 seconds after Pogacar and Vingegaard, and the latter’s British team-mate Simon Yates struggled.

The Giro d’Italia champion got a puncture and tried to recover but ended up coming in more than six minutes after the lead group.

Stage two is a 209.1km hilly ride from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer on Sunday.