TOUR DE FRANCE:CRASHES MARRED or enlivened the second day in succession of the Tour de France, depending on whether you were involved in them or watching them.
Many of the favourites for the race hit the ground at some point (sometimes more than once) during a topsy-turvy, 125-mile (201km) run across Belgium from Brussels to Spa in persistent rain.
A French rider, Sylvain Chavanel from the Quick Step team, took advantage of the chaos to beat the main field by almost four minutes and claim the yellow jersey in the process.
It was a supreme, partly solo, effort by Chavanel, who became the first French man to claim the maillot jaune since 2008, but most of the post-stage chatter focused on who had gone down and how.
The amiable American rider Christian Vande Velde, who is so accident-prone these days it is surprising he has not fitted his bike with stabilisers, was inevitably the main casualty.
Lance Armstrong, Bradley Wiggins, David Millar and Cadel Evans also fell. But the greatest drama involved Team Saxo Bank’s Andy Schleck, the runner-up in the 2009 Tour, who crashed twice in 200 metres with 25km to go.
The more serious of the two incidents saw a Quick Step rider face-plant on a slippery descent, a motorcyclist follow him down and then Schleck collide with him.
The 25-year-old from Luxembourg was bloody, his kit was shredded and he was holding his left elbow. He looked as if he wanted his mummy to come and pick him up in the car. He was also three minutes behind his rivals, a deficit that would have been insurmountable considering the woeful time-trial he rode on Saturday.
To his credit, Schleck rode like a maniac and rejoined the main group – partly because the peloton had become disorganised following the crashes, but mostly because his Saxo Bank team-mate Fabian Cancellara neutralised the pace, thus surrendering his hard-won yellow jersey.
Nicolas Roche hit the deck twice on Sunday, but the 26-year-old Irishman had better fortunes yesterday, avoiding the carnage, and making it into the leading chase group behind Chavanel.
Though there was no chase.
The peloton often shows an unlikely collective unity.
In the same spirit it was “decided” not to contest the sprint for second place after Chavanel as a protest to dangerous riding conditions in Holland and Belgium.
So there was no sprint to the line and Roche rolled in 50th on the stage. Because a number of other riders lost time, he has moved from 45th to 34th overall.
The South African sprinter Robbie Hunter was particularly forthright on the road conditions: “I say it again, no Grand Tour has any business in these northern countries and f**k anybody who says different. See how much you guys like hitting the deck at 60kph.”
Armstrong was, unusually for him, more measured.
“There was something on the road and we just couldn’t stay on our bikes, I’ve never seen anything like that.
“We kept passing guys all the way down, it was surreal. Mine was more of a slide; I’ve got some good abrasions, but it was so slippery you just slid, there was not much impact. On days like today I wonder why I came off the beach, but I will be back at it tomorrow.”
It was a sad way to end another day of racing in the Low Countries that had mostly been notable for the ferocious passion of the roadside support. The crowds were out again yesterday, three-deep for much of the route, despite it surely being one of the more spiteful 136 days of rain they are said to experience each year.
On the six climbs that dotted the last 40 miles the intensity was more like what you would expect for a decisive Alpine ascent in the Tour’s final week.
Going into the stage there had been high hopes for the British contingent. Mark Cavendish awoke to a headline in L’Equipe that called him “Le Pyromane”, which translates as “the arsonist” or, if you want to be more charitable, as “the rabble rouser” for his role in a crash on stage one.
However, there was an expectation, if he made it over the final bumps coming into Spa, he could claim a sprint victory. The other scenario for the day saw 40 of the lead riders testing each other out on the first hills of the race, and Team Sky talked bullishly of having all nine of their contingent in the decisive group.
Of course, Chavanel got the jump on all of them after leading a breakaway of eight riders almost from the off. “The happiest day in my career,” he said sweetly.
Guardian Service
Results and Standings
Yesterday’s Second Stage
(201km, Brussels to Spa)
1 S Chavanel (Fra/Quick-Step) 4:40:48
2 M Bouet (Fra/AG2R) +3:56
3 F Wegmann (Ger/Milram) “
4 R McEwen (Aus/Katusha) “
5 C Knees (Ger/Milram) “
6 J Roelandts (Bel/O Pharma-Lotto) “
7 T Hushovd (Nor/Cervelo) “
8 L Gerdemann (Ger/Milram) “
9 M Ladagnous (Fra/FDJ) “
10 B Eisel (Aut/HTC-Columbia) “
11 D Moreno (Spa/O Pharma-Lotto) “
12 F Cancellara (Swi/Saxo Bank) “
13 K Kroon (Hol/BMC Racing) “
14 J Vansummeren (Bel/Garmin) “
15 J Joaquin Rojas (Spa/C d’Epargne) “
16 S Pauwels (Bel/Team Sky) “
17 J Hunt (Brit/Cervelo) “
18 S Vandenbergh (Bel/Katusha) “
19 R Kreuziger (Cze/Liquigas) “
20 M Maaskant (Hol/Garmin) “
50 N Roche (Irl/AG2R La Mondiale) “
Overall Standings
1 S Chavanel (Fra/Quick-Step) 10:01:25
2 F Cancellara (Swi/Saxo Bank) +2:57
3 T Martin (Ger/HTC-Columbia) +3:07
4 D Millar (Brit/Garmin) +3:17
5 L Armstrong (US/RadioShack) +3:19
6 G Thomas (Brit/Team Sky) +3:20
7 A Contador (Spa/Astana) +3:24
8 L Leipheimer (US/RadioShack) +3:25
9 E Boasson Hagen (Nor/Team Sky) +3:29
10 L Gerdemann (Ger/Milram) +3:32
11 B Bookwalter (US/BMC Racing) “
12 J Brajkovic (Slo/RadioShack) “
13 M Rogers (Aus/HTC-Columbia) “
14 R Plaza (Spa/Caisse dEpargne) +3:33
15 A Kloeden (Ger/RadioShack) “
16 A Vinokourov (Kaz/Astana) +3:35
17 R Kreuziger (Cze/Liquigas) “
18 LL Sanchez (Spa/C dEpargne) +3:36
19 C Evans (Aus/BMC Racing) “
20 A Grivko (Ukraine/Astana) +3:37
34 N Roche (Irl/AG2R La Mondiale +3:46
Sprinter standings
1 S Chavanel (Fra/Quick-Step) 44pts
2 A Petacchi (Ita/Lampre) 35
3 J Roelandts (Bel/O Pharma-Lotto) 34
King of the Mountain
1 J Pineau (Fra/Quick-Step) 13pts
2 S Chavanel (Fra/Quick-Step) 8
3 R Taaramaee (Est/Cofidis) 8
Team standings
1 Quick-Step (Bel) 30 hrs 11 mins 40 secs
2 RadioShack (US) +2:51
3 HTC-Columbia (US) +2:52
Youth standings
1 T Martin (Ger/HTC-Columbia) 10:04:32
2 G Thomas (Brit/Team Sky) +13
3 E Boasson Hagen (Nor/Team Sky) +22
