Eventually the Cervelo team decided to get a grip of the situation with 30 km to go, and in short shrift, halved the breakaway groups time advantage to just 30 seconds. It was then a matter of each team trying to set their rider up for the sprint finish, but with none of them really appearing to want to lead the proceedings. HTC-Columbia took over from Cervelo at the front of the pack, as the desperate escapees battled to protect their slim lead. By the time the finishing post was less than 5 km away they eventually capitulated and were re-absorbed into the peloton. The teams organized themselves for the first real sprint of the Tour, after the pile ups of Stage 1; while the neutralization of Stage 2 removed the spectacle of a second place sprint; and the Stage 3 finish which was won by a sprinter, but had high profile absentees. Today’s sprint was the real deal, with all the big players in the mix.

(Photo of Mark Cavendish by Elyobelyob. Reproduced under Creative Commons licence.)

In the event, as they accelerated toward the line, Cavendish looked set up, led in by HTC-Columbia team mate Renshaw. Just as it seemed Cavendish was about to make his move, he misfired, at exactly the same time as Petacchi, the Stage 1 victor, catapulted himself into the fray, demonstrating what a top class sprinter he is – and why he has been nicknamed “Ale-Jet”. Pressed all the way by the American rider Dean, racing for Garmin-Transitions, he made it past the post first, proving that his Stage 1 win was no fluke. In a disappointing show Cavendish – expected to do great things this year – came home in 12th place.

The current standings after Stage 4 are unchanged in the General Classification:

So after today’s racing, the Tour cycling jerseys remain on the same shoulders for tomorrow. That is, Yellow Jersey stays with Cancellara; Green Jersey with Hushovd, who picked up points today; Polka Dot Jersey with Pineau; and White Jersey with second place man Thomas.

Tomorrow sees the Tour roll out from Épernay on route to Montargis, with another 187.5 km of grueling racing.

The stage saw several crashes with a early accident injuring Hansen (THM) who continued the race; and later a dog ran into the mass of riders causing a crash which took out Millar (GRM) and Basso (LIQ). They both remounted their bikes to continue, Basso swapping his bike later on.

As Stage 1 continued, the peloton organized themselves to mount a chase to catch the breakaway trio, aided by the Cervelo, Garmin and Saxobank teams. With 25 km left until the finish line, they finally caught Perez and Boom, with Wynants remaining out front with a new break partner Pliuschin, who ended up taking on the largest chunk of the workload, reeastablishing a 1 minute gap with 15 km to go. By 8.5 km remaining, the escapees were reabsorbed into the pack, and the sprint was starting to take shape.

The final kilometers of the race were marred by two pile ups, the first on a precarious right handed hairpin bend, which saw Cavendish and Freire lose out on the sprint finish; and the second crash completely blocked the road to all but about 40 of the riders. Alessandro Petacchi took his chance with 200 m to go and sprinted home to win Stage 1 of the 2010 Tour de France, followed in by the injured Renshaw, and Hushovd. A pleasing finish for Petacchi in his first Tour since 2004, gaining his fifth stage win, adding this one to 4 wins in 2003.

(Photo of Alessandro Petacchi, by Alex Anlicker, reproduced under Creative Commons license.)

Because the crashes took place in the last 3 km of the stage, riders retain their times, and so Cancellara holds the Yellow Jersey going into Stage 2. As for the other prized cycling shirts, Petacchi is awarded the Green Jersey after today’s exertions, and Tony Martin wears the Young Rider’s White Jersey. The Combativity Award – a White Jersey with Red Panel was awarded to Wynants who held out against the peloton for most of the race through his native Belgium. The standings look like this:

Stage 2 tomorrow sees the riders compete between Brussels and Spa and a distance of 201 km. It looks like Renshaw will be ruled out with a broken collar bone, which is a blow for sprint specialist Cavendish who relies on him for setting pace.