( CNN ) -- Peter Sagan of Slovakia marked his debut in the Tour de France by winning the first stage of this year 's race in Seraing Sunday . The 22-year-old Liquigas rider underlined his reputation as the rising star of the peloton by outsprinting Fabian Cancellara and Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway after a tough uphill finish to the 198km stage from Liege . Swiss Cancellara kept the race leader 's yellow jersey he claimed after winning the opening prologue Saturday . Pre-race favorite Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky finished in a whittled down bunch given the same time as the leading three , which also included defending champions Cadel Evans of Australia . The globalization of the Tour de France . A series of crashes and incidents involving errant spectators made for a difficult finish to the stage for the 198 riders . After the early breakaway was caught on the outskirts of Seraing , the pace went up as riders made their bid for stage glory . Sylvain Chavanel of France , who took third in the prologue in Liege behind Cancellara and Wiggins , made an initial attack , but it was RadioShack 's Cancellara who split the field . Sagan reacted immediately to join him at the front before Team Sky 's Boasson Hagen bridged the gap . Showing a coolness which belied his inexperience , Sagan timed his final burst perfectly to cross the line with his arms raised in triumph . He came into the Tour as the favorite to claim the green points jersey , having won five of the eight stages of this year 's Tour of California and shown his versatility in other races . But it is his first appearance in cycling 's most famous competition and his early victory will put him under the media spotlight . `` I 'm very happy , especially after yesterday 's incident at the prologue , '' said Sagan , referring to losing time when he nearly came off on a sharp turn . `` My legs were feeling better today . I want to thank my teammates , they did a lot of good work in the last kilometers . '' Monday 's stage takes the riders from Vise to Tournai over 207.5km and is expected to favor sprinters such as Britain 's Mark Cavendish , who has won 20 stages of the Tour de France .
Edvald Boasson Hagen wins first stage of Tour of California . Slovakian outsprinted Bradley Wiggins and Cancellara . Cancellara keeps race leader 's yellow jersey . Pre-race favorite Edvald Boasson Hagen remains in second place .