CYCLING'S much-anticipated return to Yorkshire proved a brutal one as race favourite Ben Swift and star sprinter Marcel Kittel were among several casualties on the road from Bridlington to Scarborough.

Swift's Team Sky team-mate Lars Petter Nordhaug emerged from the chaos to win the first stage of the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire in front of huge crowds on the Scarborough seafront but behind him several others were picking up the pieces.

Almost a year on from the county hosting the Grand Depart of the Tour de France, the 174km stage again saw thousands lining the roads. But the day's racing was defined by a huge crash after a brief shower created a slippery descent as the peloton approached Grosmont, high in the North Yorkshire Moors.

There was a warning when Tim Declercq of Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise, one of two riders in a breakaway, went straight on at a corner and landed in a hedge before remounting.

But with no race radio, the peloton approached unaware and chaos followed as several riders hit the deck, led by Yorkshireman Swift and team-mate Ian Boswell.

Swift's team-mate Philip Deignan said: "It was just really slippy. Normally the roads here are quite abrasive but that was real shiny.

"It just came on really quickly, the shower, just as we were coming in and it's a 20 per cent descent, so it was probably the worst moment for it to happen."

As Swift headed off to hospital, his remaining team-mates tried to regroup amid the confusion and Deignan and Nordhaug managed to get themselves into a five-man break which got away on the final climb of the day out of Robin Hood's Bay.

It came down to a sprint on the seafront, with Nordhaug beating Europcar rival Thomas Voeckler and Stephane Rossetto of Cofidis.

The Norwegian said: "It's great to take the victory. With all the spectators here, it's massive and I feel like I'm riding at home riding for Sky. This is really great.

"The team were so strong, riding all day to make it hard. We were riding for Ben Swift but he crashed pretty hard, which is a shame. Then I had to try and do something."

After time bonuses were applied, Nordhaug led the general classification by four seconds from Voeckler. Deignan finished fifth to sit ten seconds down.

Team Sky sporting director Rod Ellingworth said: "This is cycling, the highs and lows.

"The thing is, we always said from the beginning if we lose Ben, Lars is the guy as he's next in line, so for Team Sky it's worked out but it's sad for Ben. It was his home race and he was well up for it."

The same crash which accounted for Swift also did for NFTO's Eddie Dunbar, at 18 the youngest rider in the field. The Irishman, who had been first over the biggest climb of the day at Rosedale Abbey, was taken to hospital with a suspected broken clavicle.

The attrition had begun when Giant-Alpecin's Kittel, who won the opening stage of the Tour de France in Harrogate last year, climbed off midway through the stage having fallen more than six minutes off the pace.

The 26-year-old was racing for the first time in two months after a virus and his lack of training was no match for the rolling roads, which seemed to catch out many riders as the peloton splintered.

Sir Bradley Wiggins, competing for the first time for his eponymous development team, elected to ride conservatively and stay safe with his attempt at the hour record scheduled for next month. He eventually crossed the line in 96th place, almost 15 minutes behind the winners.

Tomorrow sees the peloton take on a 174km route from Selby to York, where a bunch sprint is anticipated, before a tough 167km stage full of climbing between Wakefield and Leeds coincides with a wet weather forecast on Sunday.