TDF 2010 stage 1 - Rotterdam - Bruxelles 223.5 km, Sun. Jul 4
 

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So, are there any time bonuses this year? (I hope not.)

road quality? first half of race looks potentially exposed to the wind (much like a comparable stage
in this year's giro) and could contribute to a split in the field. the sprinters teams would have half the
stage to right any wrongs however. a potential stage win for an opportunist...

thanks again USAZorro for the gt threads :)

Probably excellent. If I'm not mistaken this stage takes place entirely on highways/freeways.

cool...none of those 4 lane roads suddenly narrowing into a one-way one lane road?!?! if true, that's gonna be a fast stage. hold on!

Hm, the part on the sea could be narrow a few times, but I think that's a fairly important road too.

If you look at street view, the roads look very good but the wind split the pack.
Ones things for sure, the climbs won't affect them on this day!

Did you guys not watch the Giro this year?

Farrar

Love the no time bonuses. Keeps Huschov in the pack instead of collecting bonuses like pac-man.

Oh my, Cavendish not making any friends today again...

That was meant to be an "easy" finish.

Yeah, who wants to make things interesting?

Damn, that was quality carnage.

and they say that Cat5 has a lot of crashes, that was unbelievable. Four? within the final 3km of the race today, plus one earlier with some wheels touching

What a mess. If they ride like that on Stage 3 watch out.

Wasn't Petacchi's last win because of a crash? He may not like winning that way, but I say that's racing. A win is a win.

Does that put him in green? I see that Hushovd was 3rd and Cav was nowhere to be seen. Looking good for Hushovd's green jersey chances later on.

Has Petacchi ever finished the Tour de France? I don't think he cares much about the green jersey.

He won a stage at Tour de Suisse that way, if the commentators on VS were correct.
Cavendish was involved in the first or second crash within the 3km window, which is why he was absent from the bunch sprint

Farrar was dragging around the AG2R dudes bike. He was in a good position too, tough break...

In addition, a dog also caused a crash at 166 km to go. A few riders including David Millar (Garmin Transitions) went down.

Dutch Dog Causes Minor Crash in TdF
 

Come on the Belgian and French dogs.

You can show those Dutch dogs.

Oh the HUMANITY!!!

p.s. Curb your dog

That first crash it looked like Cavendish didn't turn right AT ALL. Either he was in the midst of giving someone the shoulder or he didn't know there was a corner. Anyone else see the same?