Giro d'Italia stage two in pictures

Carnage. Mayhem. Chaos. Words that have already been used to describe the second stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia in the Netherlands.

Crashes punctuated the latter half of the stage from Amsterdam to Utrecht as nervous riders navigated the street furniture and constantly changing road width. 

The majority of riders were mixed up in a crash at some point in the race, and one hold-up near the finish caused a split in the bunch that saw race leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) lose his top spot to world champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team).

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) took a nasty fall on the stage, but climbed back on to the bike to quickly regain his composure and take the bunch finish ahead of Matthew Goss (HTC-Columbia) and Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas).

The thousands of Dutch fans lining the roads were expecting a spectacle... and they won't have gone home disappointed.

Cycling Weekly photographer Graham Watson followed the race, and we present a selection of the day's images.

Tens of thousands turned out to watch the Giro in the Netherlands

Fans line the road

One of many crashes

Team Sky work to protect Bradley Wiggins' lead

Race leader Bradley Wiggins takes a snack

Race leader Bradley Wiggins fell foul of a crash

BMC's Florian Stolder hits the deck

Tyler Farrar takes a tumble

... But went on to win the stage

Cadel Evans stayed out of trouble to take the race lead

Related links

Giro d'Italia 2010: Cycling Weekly's coverage index 

2010 Giro d'Italia coverage in association with Zipvit