Petacchi: A Survivor & A Winner

The Progress Report
The 223.5km first stage of the 2010 Tour de France, from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to Brussels in Belgium began at 12.22pm. There were 195 riders at the sign on: Cardoso (FOT) and Frank (BMC) didn’t start after crashing in the prologue. After a brief official ceremony in which race director Christian Prudhomme joined the Mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb to cut the ribbon on the Erasmusbrug, the peloton made its way to the site of the official start. There were no climbs on this day in the low-lands of Holland and Belgium. The intermediate sprints were in Zeeland Neeltje Jans (at 73km), Putte, Belgium (149.5km) and Ekeren (158.5km).

Boom Attacks Immediately
As soon as the flag fell to signal the beginning of racing, Lars Boom (RAB) sprinted ahead of the peloton. He was chased and caught by Perez Lezaun (EUS) and Wynants (QST). There was no reaction from any other riders and by 4km, the three escapees had an advantage of 4’00”. This grew quickly, and by 17km the trio was ahead by 7’10”. Saxo Bank led the peloton and then received support from Garmin and HTC-Columbia riders around the 28km mark. The three teams were content to let the escapees linger out front, with the maximum advantage being 7’30” at 50km.

Millar and Basso Caught Up In Incident With A Dog
Adam Hansen (THR) crashed at 40km but rejoined the peloton about 5km later. Later, his team doctor (Helga Riepenhof) said that he suspected a broken collarbone but that the idea was for him to finish the stage and then attend the hospital in Brussels.
Later, at 55km, a dog ran in front of the peloton and caused another accident – this time the victims were Millar (GRM) and Basso (LIQ). They quickly remounted their bikes and rejoined the bunch. Basso swapped a bike during the pursuit but didn’t appear to be too badly injured by the crash.
At 67km, the RadioShack, Liquigas and Astana teams moved forward in the peloton but Saxo continued to dictate terms. As the race arrived near the coast, with the wind blowing hard from the right, the pace increased significantly and, by the 80km mark, the deficit of the peloton to the escapees had dropped to 3’40”. The average speed for the second hour was 37.5km/h. Once out of the feedzone, the riders enjoyed a tailwind and the average for the third hour was 47.km/h.

Setting Up A Sprint
As the peloton left Holland behind, Hansen moved to the front of the peloton and, together with Cervelo, Garmin and Saxo Bank riders, they steadily pulled the escape back. At the border, the deficit was 3’00”, with 60km to go 1’30”… the sprint teams then remained at the head of the peloton keeping the escapees in check. The average speed for the fourth hour was 42.5km/h.
With 32km to go, Wynants was the first to attack the lead group. It didn’t last. He went again two kilometers later and opened a good gap. At 27km to go, Boom and Perez were caught by the peloton just after Pliuschin attacked. With 25km to go Wynants was caught by the Moldavian champion and the two led by 25”. Pliuschin did most of the work in the lead, building up a lead of 1’00” with 15km to go. Garmin, Milram and HTC-Columbia led the peloton. The escape was over with 8.5km to go. Wynants was voted winner of the Fighting Spirit award.

Carnage In Final Kilometers
With the escapees caught it was time for the sprinters to weave their magic. But just as they started to prime themselves for the rush to the line, crashes became the order of the finale. The first, on the last turn of the stage, took out Cavendish (THR) and Freire (RAB). Then Garmin was in command of the peloton in the final straight but with about 800m to go, another accident halted the progress of all but about 40 riders. Petacchi started his sprint with 200m to go and was trailed in by Renshaw and Hushovd. It is the Italian’s fifth stage win in the Tour de France, following his collection of four in the 2003 race. It’s his first appearance in the Tour since 2004.
Cancellara was caught up in the last major crash but as it happened within the final three kilometers he didn’t lose time and will wear the yellow jersey in stage two.