CYCLING TOUR DE FRANCE:MARK CAVENDISH was at the centre of controversy again yesterday, as the first full stage of the Tour de France descended into chaos with two crashes in the last 2km.
The stage was won by the Italian veteran Alessandro Petacchi but he was almost the last man riding as more than half the peloton was unable to contest the finish. David Millar, the best-placed British rider in third overall, wheeled his bike over the line and Lance Armstrong tweeted straight afterwards: “That was S-T-R-E-S-S-F-U-L!”
Overhead shots were not conclusive but Cavendish seemed responsible for the more dramatic spill, losing his balance on a tight right-hand corner and taking down Oscar Freire and Jeremy Hunt. He climbed back on his bike, apparently not seriously injured, and pedalled to the finish with an expression that might be described as “wistful”.
Cavendish has had a difficult few months – both on and off the bike – and he has already attracted criticism for his uncompromising style of riding. He was at the centre of an even more spectacular crash last month at the Tour of Switzerland, causing an avalanche of riders, one of whom fractured his elbow.
This led to a two-minute protest from the rest of the field to “send a message to Cavendish to ask him for more respect” – although the 25-year-old from the Isle of Man contests that this ever happened.
It is a frustrating start to the Tour for Cavendish, who appeared certain to add to his 10 stage victories, but Petacchi thinks he may have had the match of him anyway. “It was not unexpected for me,” said the 36-year-old, who has won five stages of the Tour de France previously, but has not competed in the race for six years. “I hope I will have the chance to sprint against Cavendish again. It was tough that he crashed but maybe I would have won anyway, as I did a great sprint.”
And it had all been going so smoothly. Stage one had been identified by many riders as one of the trickiest in the race. The danger came not from the terrain, which flatlined for 139 miles, but from the wind that traditionally buffets the first section of the course, across the Zeeland polders. Comparisons were made to the seemingly innocuous stage of last year’s race to La Grande Motte, where many of the main contenders were surprised by a sudden change in wind direction and lost time.
Armstrong, one of those who was not and did not, famously sniped: “You know what the wind is doing and you see a turn coming up, so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you have to go to the front.”
We sat back and waited for an exciting and potentially decisive day. In reality the stage was for the most part formulaic. As soon as the race commissar’s flag dropped in Rotterdam, the local favourite Lars Boom made a break, quickly tailed by Maarten Wynants, a former mountain biker from Belgium, and a Spanish rider Alan Perez Lezaun. Boom, who has stage wins in the Vuelta a Espana and Paris-Nice, is considered a promising rider but one suspects the rest of the field were happy to let them suffer out in front in temperatures that neared 30 degrees before reeling them in for the sprint.
As the breakaway hit the polders it quickly became clear that the breeze was refreshing rather than Tour-wrecking. By the time they reached the attractive town of Goes, where a brass band harrumphed and a church’s sign proclaimed “Jesus loves all cyclists” (what, even the ones that run red lights?), their lead had extended to more than six minutes.
In the pack the main drama was a ginger mutt bolting out of the crowd and unseating David Millar, Ivan Basso and Nicolas Roche – this happens every year, so hopefully the riders are fine, the dog is fine and we have got it out of the way for 2010.
“I am okay . . . Just some bruises and grazing,” Roche said afterwards. “It’s nothing too serious. I am actually pretty fortunate, considering that I crashed twice. The first was at 40 kilometres per hour and the other was at over 50, yet I ended up with just a couple of cuts and bruises.”
His goal now is to ensure he doesn’t lose any time in the complicated stages ahead. “I want to just stay out of trouble in the next few days – hopefully everything will go fine,” he added.
STAGE ONE:Rotterdam to Brussels (223.5km )
1. A Petacchi (Ita/Lampre) 5 hrs 09 mins 38 secs, 2. Renshaw (Australia/HTC - Columbia) same time, 3. T Hushovd (Nor/Cervelo), 4. R McEwen (Australia/ Katusha), 5. M Ladagnous (Fra/FDJ), 6. D Oss (Ita/Liquigas), 7. J J Rojas (Spa/Caisse dEpargne), 8. C Knees (Ger/Milram), 9. R Perez (Spa/Euskaltel), 10. J Roelandts (Bel/Omega Pharma-Lotto), 11. S Turgot (Fran/Bbox-Bouygues), 12. L Gerdemann (Ger/Milram), 13. J El Fares (Fran/Cofidis), 14. L Roberts (Australia/Milram), 15. G Thomas (Brit/Team Sky), 16. K Siutsou (Bela/HTC - Columbia), 17. S Chavanel (Fra/Quick-Step), 18. E B Hagen (Nor/Team Sky), 19. C Barredo (Spa/Quick-Step), 20. M Barry (Can/Team Sky), 21. S Dumoulin (Fra/Cofidis), 22. S Minard (Fra/ Cofidis), 23. K De Weert (Bel/Quick-Step), 24. J Froehlinger (Ger/Milram), 25. E Vorganov (Rus/Katusha), 26. B Lancaster (Australia/Cervelo), 27. J Fuglsang (Den/Saxo Bank), 28. C Evans (Australia/BMC Racing), 29. S Auge (Fra/Cofidis), 30. M Elmiger (Swi/AG2R)
OVERALL:1. F Cancellara (Swi/Saxo Bank) 5hrs 19mins 38s, 2. T Martin (Ger/HTC-Columbia) +10, 3. D Millar (Brit/Garmin) +20, 4. L Armstrong (US/RadioShack) +22, 5. G Thomas (Brit/Team Sky) +23, 6. A Contador (Spa/Astana) +27, 7. T Farrar (US/Garmin) +28, 8. L Leipheimer (US/RadioShack), 9. E Boasson Hagen (Nor/Team Sky) +32,10. L Gerdemann (Ger/Milram) +35.
- Guardian Service
