Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini) was both lucky and good in winning Sunday's crash marred Stage 1 of the 97th Tour de France.

The beneficiary of three crashes in the final three kilometers that coincidentally took out three of his main competitors, Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia), Oscar Freire (Rabobank), and finally Tyler Farrar (Team Garmin-Transitions), Petacchi successfully navigated his way through the wreckage to set himself up for his first Tour de France stage victory in seven years, when he won a total of four.

Once in the clear, the 36-year-old Italian displayed the dominant sprinting form that previously earned him the nickname of Ale-Jet. He would cruise easily to the line to lay claim to the Stage 1 honors ahead of Mark Renshaw (HTC-Columbia) and Cervelo Test Team's Thor Hushovd.

A break, a dog, a crowd and a cannibal

The excitement and nervousness that accompany the Tour de France were certainly palpable on the 223.5km Stage 1 from Rotterdam to Brussels. After another eventful Grand Departe the day before, when the reigning World Time Trial Champion, Fabian Cancellara (Team Saxo Bank) swooped in late to steal the show from upstart Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia), it looked as if the 97th edition of the Tour was poised to produce a spectacular show. But on the day in which the race honored perhaps its greatest champion, Eddy Merckx, who celebrated his 65th birthday in June, the trek into Belgium was plagued with mishaps and crashes; hardly a fitting tribute to the man they used to refer to as the cannibal.

The race was animated early on by a break of three that escaped at the opening gun. Lars Boom (Rabobank), Maarten Wynants (Quick Step) and Alan Perez Lezaun (Euskaltel-Euskadi) would build a lead of over 7 minutes as the peloton became embroiled in other matters.

A stray dog had ambled into the roadway and resulted in a pile up within the main group. Some quick reflexes prevented a more serious and gruesome collision, which has highlighted past editions of the race, and the animal escaped frightened, but relatively untouched. The same; however, could not be said of several riders, including maillot vert wearer David Millar and Ivan Basso, the current Giro d’Italia champion, who were caught up in the chain reaction behind the incident as riders swerved and braked in front of them. Though all the riders would lick their wounds and continue to rider onward, the incident served as a harbinger of the carnage yet to come.

Moments later, a seemingly innocuous crash would end the Tour for HTC-Columbia’s Adam Hansen. He would ultimately ride and finish the stage, but radiographs taken afterward revealed a fractured collarbone.

As the race entered Belgium, massive and festive crowds lined the streets in honor of both the Tour and their former champion Merckx. With 30km left to go, the break began to disintegrate under the weight of the on-coming peloton that looked to set up a bunch sprint at the finish. In spite of this, Wynants’ stubbornness and a late attack out of the peloton by Moldavian champion Alexandr Pilushcin momentarily staved off the angry peloton.

With the catch finally made at the 5km mark and with the sprinters’ teams jockeying for position, a succession of crashes blemished the run into the finale.

On the final right hand turn into the finishing straightaway, a rider with an inside line overcooked it and subsequently slid outward to take out Freire and Cavendish. Seconds later another crash saw the hard rushing peloton compress like an accordion and come to a veritable stop. The few lucky escapees ahead of the wall of riders looked all but certain to contest for the sprint, but a third crash would again disrupt the flow and end the hopes of several other riders including green jersey hopeful, Farrar.

"Everything was going great, I felt good and the team was riding perfectly,” said Farrar. “Then, in the last 200 meters an AG2R rider hit my rear wheel and snapped my derailleur. I literally couldn't ride after that and had to walk through the finish and to the bus. It’s a shame because everything had gone so well and the team worked so hard for me. I'm glad that we're all ok and I'm lucky that I didn't go down. Tomorrow's a new day and I think its safe to say we're even more motivated now.”

Oblivious to the carnage behind, a focused Petacchi launched toward the line and took the win without much contestation. The victory would serve as a measure of redemption for the Italian fastman, who has struggled to regain his past form as of late.

In the end, Team Garmin-Transitions' Director Sportif, Matt White, would sum it up best by saying, "Unfortunately, that's sprinting."

Stage 1 Results
1. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
2. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia
3. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team

Despite all the crashes the General Classification remained unchanged. By virtue of his win, Petacchi would climb into the lead of the green jersey competition.

General Classification After Stage 1
1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank
2. Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia
3. David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions
4. Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack
5. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
6. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
7. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Transitions
8. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack
9. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team
10. Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram

Jersey Leaders After Stage 1
maillot jaune - Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank
maillot vert - Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
maillot blanc - Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia

Next: Stage 2 - Bruxelles to Spa (201km)
Another long day in the saddle on an undulating course. Will a break succeed, or can the sprinters teams keep it together for another bunch sprint? Follow our LIVE Tour de France coverage of Stage 2 on LIVESTRONG.com.

Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

In fair Verona is where we set our scene. But what should have been a tale of two households, turned out to encompass only one. The Italian Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) was eventually pardoned, while others were simply punished after a monstrous three weeks.

Team Saxo Bank's Gustav Larsson provided the heroics in the 93rd Giro d'Italia's closing act; taking the race of truth ahead of the Italian National Time Trial Champion, Marco Pinotti (Team HTC - Columbia) and Astana's Alexander Vinokourov.

Results - Stage 21
1. Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Team Saxo Bank
2. Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team HTC - Columbia
3. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana

While the triumph over the travails of a three week race is ample cause for celebration, a certain amount of trepidation exists in voicing too great an overture for a rider who once cheated the sport. In Basso case, as was the case earlier this year with Alexander Vinokourov's win at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, any current or future victory should only be viewed in measures of redemption.

Strangely, though both men returned from similar two-year suspensions, Basso's victory on home soil was received with less scrutiny than that of Vinokourov's in Belgium. But why? Was the dramatic way in which Vinokourov was caught any more egregious an offense than finding Basso's name in a ledger? In many people's eyes the answer is undoubtedly yes, but there really should be no distinction between the two.

Regardless, this is the current state of professional cycling as those who are returning from suspension race against those who have yet to be caught and those that are actually clean. We can only hope that each victory does not require a suspension of our disbelief, but rather some belief in the power of redemption.

Final General Classification
1. Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
2. David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
4. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
5. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
6. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
7. Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
8. Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
9. Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team HTC - Columbia
10. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Liquigas-Doimo

Jersey Winners
maglia rosa - Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
maglia ciclamino - Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
maglia verde - Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto
maglia bianca - Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank

Photo: Getty Images

A day after Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) wrestled the overall lead from David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne), similar fireworks were once again expected on a stage which featured the legendary climb, the Passo di Gavia. But little known Swiss rider, Johann Tschopp (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) quite literally stole the show as he soloed to victory at the top of the Passa del Tonale.

The Stage 20 win was Tschopp's first grand tour victory, and provided the French telecommunication sponsored team with its first, and what would eventually prove to be it only, win in the 93rd Giro d'Italia. Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) finished in second, and Basso in third.

Results - Stage 20
1. Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
3. Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo

Of the contenders in the General Classification, only Evans attempted to break away from the Liquigas-Doimo controlled front group. Despite the huge effort, the Aussie was unable to move up in the GC or claim the stage win.

General Classification - After Stage 20
1. Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
2. David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
4. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
5. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
6. Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
7. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
8. Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
9. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Liquigas-Doimo
10. Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team HTC - Columbia

Jersey Leaders - After Stage 20
maglia rosa - Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
maglia ciclamino - Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
maglia verde - Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
maglia bianca - Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank

Next: Stage 21 - May 30 2010 to Verona (15 km)
On last race against the clock in fair Verona...

Photo: Reuters

Few occasions in sports, as in life, rarely match their expectations. The big game fizzles or the big fight ends up being one-sided. Stage 19 of the 93rd Giro d'Italia was certainly not one of those occasions.

Sitting 2:27 in arrears from David Arroyo's (Caisse d'Epargne) maglia rosa, Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo), along with teammate Vincenzo Nibali, put forth a massive offensive on the slopes of the Mortirolo in an effort to wrestle the jersey and ultimately the race from the Spaniard. The effort ended up being so decisive that only Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli) could follow his two Italian countrymen.

For that point forward, the stage turned into a sheer battle of wills, and of time, between the the two leaders with Basso turning himself inside out to capture his lost time and Arroyo, behind, doing the same to prevent it. Distance and time gaps were followed at every instance by two neighboring nations, whose hopes rose and fell with each passing kilometer as the lead teetered back and forth. Sadly, on the day's final climb, the elastic finally snapped on Spain's chances to take another grand tour.

At the finish in Aprica, some 195km later, Scarponi would claim the third Giro d'Italia stage of his career. But the real winner on the day was Basso, who pulled back all the time he had lost to Arroyo in the course of the three week event and was even able to put 51 seconds into the valiant Caisse d'Epargne rider. Nibali rounded out the podium in third.

"I had seen Arroyo in great condition in the previous days with a team that is used to controlling Grand Tours, Basso would tell Cyclingnews. "We had a plan for our team to stay united. We believed in our chances to get the pink jersey, but the goal hasn't been reached yet. Tomorrow is a super hard stage before Sunday's time trial."

Results - Stage 19
1. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
2. Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo

Ivan Basso may have claimed the lead today, but it is anything but safe. If the Gavia is in the picture for tomorrow's stage, expect more of the same between David Arroyo and Basso. The biggest loser on the day was undoubtedly Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), who despite finishing in the maglia rosa group now sits four minutes back with only two stages to go.

General Classification - After Stage 19
1. Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
2. David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
4. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
5. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
6. Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
7. Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
8. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
9. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Liquigas-Doimo
10. Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team HTC - Columbia

Jersey Leaders - After Stage 19
maglia rosa - Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
maglia ciclamino - Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
maglia verde - Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
maglia bianca - Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank

Next: Stage 20 - Bormio to Passa del Tonale (178 km)

Photo: Reuters

It had been some time since we last saw Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) on form and winning at the Giro d'Italia.

Four years ago, prior to Operacion Puerto, the releasing of the coded name "Brillo," and a two-year ban for "attempted doping," Basso dominated the Giro in uncanny fashion; taking the overall by more than 9 minutes and winning 4 stages in the process.

On Sunday, Basso reached back in time, to the rider he knew he was and perhaps the rider he always dreamed he could be, and took Stage 15 atop the daunting Mont Zoncolan. Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) finished in second and Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli) would slot into third for the second day in a row.

Results - Stage 15
1. Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
3. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli

When the route for the 93rd Giro d'Italia was released last year, many pointed to Stage 15 and the mountain top finish on Mont Zoncolan as one that might ultimately decide the race. If the events and results were any indicator of who might be crowned the champion in fair Verona, then pre race favorites Ivan Basso, Cadel Evans, and former Tour de France winner, Carlos Sastre (Cervelo Test Team), represented themselves well.

Though David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne) and Richie Porte (Team Saxo Bank) remain at the top of the General Classification, the final week, which kicks off with Tuesday's uphill Individual Time Trial will prove if they deserve to wear the maglia rosa.

General Classification - After Stage 15
1. David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2. Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
3. Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
4. Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
5. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
6. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
7. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
8. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
9. Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram
10. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Liquigas-Doimo

Jersey Leaders - After Stage 15
maglia rosa - David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
maglia ciclamino - Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
maglia verde - Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto
maglia bianca - Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank

Next: May 24th - Second Rest Day; Stage 16 - ITT - San Vigilio di Marebbe to Plan de Corones (12.9 km)
Up, Up and Away!

Photo: Getty Images

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo), a last minute selection to Liquigas-Doimo's Giro squad, soloed to victory on Stage 14, which featured a climb up Monte Grappa. Teammate, Ivan Basso, trailed in second, while Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli) rounded out the day's podium.

Results - Stage 14
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
2. Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
3. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli

David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne) took over the maglia rosa lead, as the General Classification shuffled once again. The climb up Monte Grappa was hardly a decisive one in the grand scheme of the three week race, but it certainly helped separate the contenders from the pretenders. Besides stage winner Nibali, who climbed into eight placed overall, teammate Ivan Basso, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), and Scarponi showed enough to merit watching over the final week.

General Classification - After Stage 14
1. David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2. Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
3. Xavier Tondo Volpini (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
4. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Liquigas-Doimo
5. Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram
6. Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
7. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
8. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
9. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
10. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team

Jersey Leaders - After Stage 14
maglia rosa - David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
maglia ciclamino - Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
maglia verde - Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto
maglia bianca - Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank

Next: Stage 15 - Mestre to Zoncolan (222 km)
Mercy!

Photo: Getty Images

In a press conference before the start of the first stage of the Giro d'Italia, UCI president Pat McQuaid did not mince words when he addressed the topic of Ivan Basso and his admission to involvement in the Operación Puerto doping affair.

McQuaid made it clear that he has no sympathy for Basso, and will not recommend that he get any breaks just because he confessed.

"He has now admitted his guilt but for nine months he lied to everyone -- he lied to the cycling family, he lied to the media, he lied to his sponsors, he went into a new team and lied to those sponsors, he lied to everybody and he does not deserve our sympathy," McQuaid said.

"The world of cycling does not deserve this. The people who work for cycling week in, week out, for federations, volunteers, the people who spend their time coaching young cyclists in the sport, the people who volunteer to work and stand on roads and corners week in, week out, do not deserve this type of treatment."

BACKGROUND: Basso, who was among 58 riders originally named after Spanish authorities raided the clinic of Eufemiano Fuentes and turned up hundreds of bags of blood, documents and other evidence of a widespread blood doping ring, was excluded from the 2006 Tour de France and left his CSC team because of the scandal. When the Italian federation put aside his case, Basso signed with the Discovery Channel team. That team suspended Basso earlier this month, and Basso has since left the team.

Two more stories worth your time:

• Phil Hersh, the long-time Olympics writer of the Chicago Tribune, has a guilt-by-association column on Lance Armstrong. He concludes that Ivan Basso + Tyler Hamilton + Floyd Landis = Our Boy Lance. Hersh allows Armstrong to point out that the French sports daily L'Equipe "is nothing more than a shill for the Tour management that belongs to the same parent company," but then adds that, "Why that management would want disgrace cast on its race is hard to understand." I think that management just wants to sell newspapers.
• Doreen Carvajal of the International Herald Tribunes writes about the difficulty cycling and cyclists are having getting sponsors these days. "It's a very serious problem for the sponsors and many are thinking about their activities," says Jens Seeberger of IFM, a sports research company based in Germany. "Our advice is not to invest right now in cycling. The sport has to be clean. There's a lot of negative news right now and it affects awareness and images.

Remember the first couple of lines of the Grease song, Greased Lightning (c'mon I know most of you just broke out into song)?

Need some prompting...
Why this car is automatic
It's systematic

Systematic...ah there's the rub.

It was the first word that crossed my mind when I thought about the recent doping scandals.

With an almost religious-like zeal, Dick Pound and WADA have systematically dismantled the top echelon of cycling. Armstrong retired, Ullrich implicated, Landis is awaiting his arbitration hearing, and now Basso confesses.

Could the elasticity of pro cycling's attempts to perpetuate their culture of falsehoods have finally snapped? Would cycling's fanbase return if the sport was cleansed of all it improprieties? Should we now anticipate others following Basso's lead and take responsiblity for their actions?

Could've, Would've, Should've...

Whole Lot of Nuthin'
How much dope could a doper dope, if a doper could dope blood?

Apparently, NONE!

That's what essentially came out of the Ivan Basso's "admission of guilt" presser.

He gave his blood with the intention of doping, but he never doped. He has proclaimed himself CLEAN! "All my victories were obtained in an honest manner and nobody can contest what I achieved in the 2006 Giro d'Italia no more than the other results I achieved during my career," Basso said.

Sound the trumpets, release the doves...all is right in the world of cycling! One of our heroes is still CLEAN!
Ah Granny, we don't have any of that? We have a kazoo and a grasshopper.
A kazoo and a grasshopper??!!
Ah yeah, that's all the sponsors would flip for.
Wait a minute, we have sponsors??

Frankly that's all this non-admission of guilt deserves. Don Vito? Sounds more like Fredo!

So the request to leave Discovery Channel, all the consternation, the weight on his shoulder, was all for what, giving blood to the wrong person...isn't that a Red Cross violation!

Damn, I gave a pint last month, where's WADA, where's USADA, where are all the journalist?

Ah Granny, you've never won a Grand Tour, and you're blood was intended to help others.
Then, sound the kazoo, release the grasshopper...

For more on the press conference, Click HERE.

Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in.
OK, so Michael Corleone said it, but that's how I feel these days with these dopey dopers. Now it seems that Ivan Basso says that even though he had planned to blood dope for the 2006 Tour de France, he actually never took any banned drugs or used blood transfusions.
Basso "clarified" his earlier confession at a (staged) press conference on Tuesday following his admission on Monday to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) that he was involved in the Operación Puerto blood doping scandal.
"I have never taken banned substances and I have never employed blood doping," said Basso, last year's Giro d'Italia champion. "I did admit having attempted to use doping for the (2006) Tour de France and I am ready to pay the penalty for that. All my wins have been achieved in a proper and clean manner and I have every intention of returning to action and continuing with the job I love once I have paid the penalty."
Do you believe these guys?