Moments after rolling away from the sanctuary of his team bus, and having spent a good few minutes signing autographs for the gathered fans, Mark Cavendish pedalled back shouting to his mechanic.

In a moment’s panic, Cavendish revealed his pedals’s cleat retention settings were loose, despite apparently adjusting them the other day. An Allen key was quickly produced and, instead of letting his mechanic make the alterations, Cav set about adjusting his pedals himself.

Just shows that, at this level, last minute technical problems can still occur and that even the riders themselves sometimes prefer to get their hands dirty.