Rohan Dennis claimed the biggest victory of his career to date on the opening stage of the Tour de France, ending a run of near-misses against the clock to pull on the yellow jersey in Utrecht.

The Australian ace was on the course early in the day, and endured a long stay in the hot seat as rival after rival came and went and failed to beat his record-breaking time.

Chris Boardman’s Tour de France individual time trial record speed had stood since 1994, but Dennis proved his future is very bright by breaking the 15-minute barrier, the only man to do so, to claim the yellow jersey and enter the record books on a scorching hot day for the time trial.

Take a closer look at how the action unfolded as an elite field rolled out for the 102nd Tour de France in the wide-screen photo gallery below.