Petacchi wins in Brussels as bunch is left in tatters

Alessandro Petacchi wins, Tour de France 2010 stage one

Alessandro Petacchi won stage one of the Tour de France with a ground out win up the long drag to Brussels' Atomium. The Italian wasn't necessarily the fastest today, but unlike many others he managed to stay upright.

Today's stage was always going to end in a sprint, but Petacchi's win came almost by virtue of him being the last man standing. He avoided three crashes within the last three kilometres, the second of which brought most of the bunch to a standstill.

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