Petacchi wins crash-marred 1st stage of Tour; Armstrong other contenders trail in pack

Petacchi wins 1st stage of Tour de France

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Alessandro Petacchi has won the first stage of the Tour de France in a sprint, while Lance Armstrong and other top contenders trailing in the pack in a day marred by several crashes.

Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara appeared set to retain the leader’s yellow jersey after Sunday’s 139-mile trek through flat Belgian and Dutch lowlands from Rotterdam to Brussels.

Overall standings were not immediately available.

Cancellara won Saturday’s prologue to the three-week race. Armstrong placed fourth — 22 seconds back. Defending Tour champion Alberto Contador of Spain was sixth, 27 seconds behind.