Cancellara retains yellow as Petacchi wins first stage

Fabian Cancellara, of Switzerland, retained the race leader's yellow jersey after the crash-marred Tour de France first stage won by Alessandro Petacchi, of Lampre, yesterday.

Italian sprinter Petacchi, making his first appearance at the race in more than five years, upset predictions when he finished a reduced bunch sprint ahead of Australian Mark Renshaw and Norwegian Thor Hushovd.

Numerous crashes occurred in the closing kilometres of the 223.5km ride from Rotterdam to Brussels, leaving many of the top favourites for stage victory out of the running.

Spanish fast man Oscar Freire, of Rabobank, was brought down along with Cervelo's Jeremy Hunt when the Briton took a wrong turn on a tight bend with two kilometres to go.

Another massive crash with just a kilometre to go further reduced the peloton. British sprint king Mark Cavendish was among the big names also left out of contention for a stage in which he was a huge favourite.

Cancellara took the yellow jersey on Saturday when he won the race's opening prologue over 8.9km in Rotterdam.