Petacchi takes Tour de France Stage 1

BRUSSELS, July 4 (UPI) -- Alessandro Petacchi of Italy finished first Sunday in a chaotic Stage 1 of the Tour de France as Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara retained the yellow jersey.

The 2010 Tour's first stage -- a flat, 150-mile course from Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Brussels -- was filled with crashes, preventing it from turning into the expected showcase for competitive sprinters.

Among those delayed by the crashes were Mark Cavendish of the HTC-Columbia team. In that accident, a huge pile-up completely blocked the road, wiping out the good position held by Garmin-Transition's Tyler Farrar and others.

Petacchi, however, navigated around the chaos and held on for the long sprint win.

Cancellara and seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong were among those delayed by the crash. They were not penalized for time, however, because the mishaps occurred at the end of the stage.

Armstrong retained his fourth overall position, 22 seconds behind Cancellara.

Monday's second stage is a 150-mile course from Brussels to Spa, Belgium.