Ireland's Sam Bennett looks pretty chilled before he climbs onto his bike for the Tour de France opening stage TT; all captured in this on-board footage.

Sam Bennett's "electrifying" Tour de France TT

The clip below does exactly what it says on the tin; it's the on-board footage of Sam Bennett's effort in the 13.8km time trial that got his first Tour de France underway in Utrecht on Saturday.

The Irish man, riding for Bora-Argon 18, looked relaxed before his effort.

But he told stickybottle afterwards the scale of the occasion only hit him when he was in the iconic Tour start house.

“It was absolutely electrifying; I’m more tired from the excitement and the atmosphere than anything,” he said.

Bennett's view as he steadies himself to begin his first Tour de France.

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“It was just unbelievable with the crowds. I had an aero helmet on which covers my ears but they’re still ringing from the roaring of the crowds.

“I remember at the start I was completely shitting myself; the nerves hit me all at once when I realised what I was at.

“It just happened so f***** fast! I thought I was going to fall in the start ramp. That’d be some start to my first Tour!

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It hit me in the start house, I just panicked, fear came over me and then I got up and got up on the bike and it happened so fast.”

The scale of the crowds is really hammered home in the clip below, and hopefully we get more on-board action from him - and indeed Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche - before the race is over.

Bennett finished 171st in the test, some 1:48 down on winner Rohan Dennis of BMC Racing.