Australian Caleb Ewan's superb burst of sprinting saw him take the opening stage of the Tour of Britain in a photo finish on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Orica-Scott rider just edged out Dimension Data's Edvald Boasson Hagen on the line, with Team Sky's Elia Viviani in third place in the 190-kilometre ride from the Scottish capital of Edinburgh to the Border town of Kelso.

Mark Cavendish, competing for the first time since breaking his shoulder blade in July's Tour de France, was seven-and-a-half-minutes behind on the first day of the eight-stage race which concludes in the Welsh capital of Cardiff a week on Sunday.

There was drama when Poland's Karol Domagalski, in a breakaway group clear of the peloton, was knocked off his bike by a rival team car.

Fortunately, he was not seriously injured and Domagalski even recovered sufficiently quickly to claim the sprinters' jersey at the end of the stage.

Monday's second day features the longest stage of the tour, a 210-kilometre journey across northeast England from Kielder Water to Blyth.

Source: AFP