Stage 1: Rotterdam - Brussels. Alessandro Petacchi wins

Contents This Page

News and Highlights
Highlights Video
Interesting Photos
Stage Map & Profile
Results and Standings

News and Highlights

Fabian Cancellara. Stage 1 leaving Rotterdam
Photo credit: placid casual at Flickr

Italian veteran sprinter Alessandro Petacchi escaped the pile ups less than one kilometer from the finish and won the first stage of the 2010 Tour de France. Englishman Mark Cavendish, however, was not so fortunate when he and another rider tangled making a sharp right hand turn. Cavendish's bitter rival from the 2009 Tour, Norwegian Thor Hushovd came in third.

This was Petacchi's fifth Tour stage win, and his first since 2003. When told that he won because Cavendish had crashed, Petacchi retorted, "I'm not sure that Cavendish could beat me today if he had been there, because I really did a good sprint."

There were in all three crashes in the last three kilometers of the race. American Tyler Farrar, a strong contender for the win, got caught in one of the incidents, just meters from the finish line.

The first incident was when a dog ran across the road (which is yet no more reason to always have dogs on a leash in a public place) bringing down Britain's David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) and a yellow jersey hopeful Ivan Basso (Liquigas). Fortunately, both riders managed to rejoin the peloton unharmed.

Cancellara was fortunate to be able to retain his yellow jersey despite being involved in the huge pile up before the finish. The three kilometer rule allows all riders who are part of a group - in this case the peloton - to be given the same finish time as the first rider from the group.

Video Highlights

Interesting Photos

Willemsbrug (Willems Bridge) stage 1 departure point in Rotterdam.
Photo credit: Marianne de Wit at Flickr

Willemsbrug (Willems Bridge) stage 1 departure point in Rotterdam
Photo credit: Marianne de Wit at Flickr

Peloton at Day 2, Stage 1 Rotterdam to Brussels
Photo credit: Robert at Flickr

Willemsbrug (Willems Bridge) stage 1 departure point in Rotterdam
Photo credit: Marianne de Wit at Flickr

Day 2, Stage 1 Rotterdam to Brussels
Photo credit: Jetske19 at Flickr 

Stage Map

Image (above and below) credit: www.letour.fr

Stage Profile

Standings

(Source: www.letour.fr)
For an expanation of the classifications and jerseys, please see our page Classifications and Jerseys
Jersey icon key:
General classification (GC) fastest time leader, Sprints points leader, Mountains points leader, Young Rider time leader, Team total least time leader, Most Aggressive Rider

Leaders

		13	CANCELLARA Fabian	TEAM SAXO BANK	5h 19' 38"
		208	PETACCHI Alessandro	LAMPRE - FARNESE	35 pts
		115	MARTIN Tony	TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA	5h 19' 48"
			TEAM RADIOSHACK		16h 00' 19"

General Classification. Also called GC (yellow jersey / maillot jaune)

Standing	Rider	Rider #	Team	Time	Gaps
1.	CANCELLARA Fabian	13	TEAM SAXO BANK	5h 19' 38"
2.	MARTIN Tony	115	TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA	5h 19' 48"	+ 00' 10"
3.	MILLAR David	57	GARMIN - TRANSITIONS	5h 19' 58"	+ 00' 20"
4.	ARMSTRONG Lance	21	TEAM RADIOSHACK	5h 20' 00"	+ 00' 22"
5.	THOMAS Geraint	39	SKY PRO CYCLING	5h 20' 01"	+ 00' 23"
6.	CONTADOR Alberto	1	ASTANA	5h 20' 05"	+ 00' 27"
7.	FARRAR Tyler	53	GARMIN - TRANSITIONS	5h 20' 06"	+ 00' 28"
8.	LEIPHEIMER Levi	25	TEAM RADIOSHACK	5h 20' 06"	+ 00' 28"
9.	BOASSON HAGEN Edvald	36	SKY PRO CYCLING	5h 20' 10"	+ 00' 32"
10.	GERDEMANN Linus	141	TEAM MILRAM	5h 20' 13"	+ 00' 35"
11.	BOOKWALTER Brent	123	BMC RACING TEAM	5h 20' 13"	+ 00' 35"
12.	MALORI Adriano	207	LAMPRE - FARNESE	5h 20' 13"	+ 00' 35"
13.	BRAJKOVIC Janez	22	TEAM RADIOSHACK	5h 20' 13"	+ 00' 35"
14.	ROGERS Michael	118	TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA	5h 20' 13"	+ 00' 35"
15.	PLAZA MOLINA Ruben	168	CAISSE D’EPARGNE	5h 20' 14"	+ 00' 36"
16.	TERPSTRA Niki	148	TEAM MILRAM	5h 20' 14"	+ 00' 36"
17.	KLÖDEN Andréas	24	TEAM RADIOSHACK	5h 20' 14"	+ 00' 36"
18.	KIRYIENKA Vasil	165	CAISSE D’EPARGNE	5h 20' 16"	+ 00' 38"
19.	VINOKOUROV Alexandre	9	ASTANA	5h 20' 16"	+ 00' 38"
20.	KREUZIGER Roman	44	LIQUIGAS-DOIMO	5h 20' 16"	+ 00' 38"

Points Classification (green jersey / maillot vert)

Standing	Rider	Rider number bib	Team	Points
1.	PETACCHI Alessandro	208	LAMPRE - FARNESE	35 pts
2.	RENSHAW Mark	117	TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA	30 pts
3.	HUSHOVD Thor	95	CERVELO TEST TEAM	26 pts
4.	MC EWEN Robbie	75	KATUSHA TEAM	24 pts
5.	LADAGNOUS Matthieu	65	FDJ	22 pts
6.	OSS Daniel	46	LIQUIGAS-DOIMO	20 pts
7.	ROJAS Jose Joaquin	169	CAISSE D’EPARGNE	19 pts
8.	KNEES Christian	145	TEAM MILRAM	18 pts
9.	THOMAS Geraint	39	SKY PRO CYCLING	17 pts
10.	PEREZ MORENO Ruben	186	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	17 pts
11.	ROELANDTS Jürgen	108	OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO	16 pts
12.	CANCELLARA Fabian	13	TEAM SAXO BANK	15 pts
13.	GERDEMANN Linus	141	TEAM MILRAM	15 pts
14.	TURGOT Sébastien	158	BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM	15 pts
15.	PEREZ LEZAUN Alan	185	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	14 pts
16.	EL FARES Julien	174	COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE	13 pts
17.	BOOM Lars	192	RABOBANK	12 pts
18.	MARTIN Tony	115	TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA	12 pts
19.	ROBERTS Luke	146	TEAM MILRAM	12 pts
20.	WYNANTS Maarten	139	QUICK STEP	10 pts

King of the Mountains Classification [white & red (polka) dotted jersey / maillot à pois rouges]
There were no mountain points awarded on this stage as there were no mountains.

Young* Riders' Classification (white jersey / maillot blanc)
*Riders no more than 25 years old in the year of the race.

Standing	Rider	Rider #	Team	Time	Gaps
1.	MARTIN Tony	115	TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA	5h 19' 48"
2.	THOMAS Geraint	39	SKY PRO CYCLING	5h 20' 01"	+ 00' 13"
3.	BOASSON HAGEN Edvald	36	SKY PRO CYCLING	5h 20' 10"	+ 00' 22"
4.	MALORI Adriano	207	LAMPRE - FARNESE	5h 20' 13"	+ 00' 25"
5.	KREUZIGER Roman	44	LIQUIGAS-DOIMO	5h 20' 16"	+ 00' 28"
6.	KOREN Kristjan	43	LIQUIGAS-DOIMO	5h 20' 20"	+ 00' 32"
7.	OSS Daniel	46	LIQUIGAS-DOIMO	5h 20' 21"	+ 00' 33"
8.	KONOVALOVAS Ignatas	97	CERVELO TEST TEAM	5h 20' 22"	+ 00' 34"
9.	TAARAMAE Rin	171	COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE	5h 20' 23"	+ 00' 35"
10.	FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto	162	CAISSE D’EPARGNE	5h 20' 27"	+ 00' 39"

Team Classification

Standing	Team	Time	Gaps
1.	TEAM RADIOSHACK	16h 00' 19"
2.	TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA	16h 00' 20"	+ 00' 01"
3.	GARMIN - TRANSITIONS	16h 00' 21"	+ 00' 02"
4.	SKY PRO CYCLING	16h 00' 35"	+ 00' 16"
5.	ASTANA	16h 00' 39"	+ 00' 20"
6.	TEAM SAXO BANK	16h 00' 41"	+ 00' 22"
7.	CAISSE D’EPARGNE	16h 00' 47"	+ 00' 28"
8.	BMC RACING TEAM	16h 00' 49"	+ 00' 30"
9.	TEAM MILRAM	16h 00' 55"	+ 00' 36"
10.	LIQUIGAS-DOIMO	16h 00' 55"	+ 00' 36"
11.	LAMPRE - FARNESE	16h 01' 16"	+ 00' 57"
12.	RABOBANK	16h 01' 17"	+ 00' 58"
13.	CERVELO TEST TEAM	16h 01' 21"	+ 01' 02"
14.	FDJ	16h 01' 21"	+ 01' 02"
15.	COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE	16h 01' 22"	+ 01' 03"
16.	QUICK STEP	16h 01' 24"	+ 01' 05"
17.	KATUSHA TEAM	16h 01' 24"	+ 01' 05"
18.	AG2R LA MONDIALE	16h 01' 29"	+ 01' 10"
19.	OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO	16h 01' 42"	+ 01' 23"
20.	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	16h 01' 54"	+ 01' 35"
21.	BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM	16h 02' 02"	+ 01' 43"
22.	FOOTON-SERVETTO	16h 02' 16"	+ 01' 57"