Nibali did well on the cobbles last year, so he could well get some time back then, I wouldnt right the other two off just yet, lots can happen

Sharp criticism of Cavendish from the EQS DS Brian Holm for going too early and not keeping Cancellara out of the top three. He compared the team's failure to convert their strength in the 25 man break to the EQS trio losing to Stannard in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

With bonus seconds on the line, Cancellara pipped Martin to the GC lead by virtue of finishing third in the sprint - behind Griepel*/Sagan and ahead of Cav! Double blow for Etixx after they ripped the peloton to shreds.

Looks like Froome has learned from his mistake in the echelon-heavy stage of the 2013 TdF (first of the GC contenders today).

(*His first day in the green jersey if I'm not mistaken.)

Cavandish did go too early and ended up giving a lead out to Greipel and Sagan, but the whole team went too early ending up with Renshaw leaving Cavendish in front too far out.

Major crash!

William Bonnet (who touched wheels) triggered the incident and abandons. Dumoulin abandons, as does Gerrans (second Tour in a row! )...Cancellara involved as well, got concussed and might abandon as well!

Race brought to an actual halt!! Never seen that before.

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Apparently there weren't enough doctors to deal with the aftermath, which is why the race was halted. They're now on the move again (not yet the race proper), including Cancellara.

I don't recall a race being stopped because of a crash either.

The reason appears understandable in that all the medical staff were needed at the crash scene so there was no cover for the remaining riders who were carrying on

But there's been lots of big crashes in races before so the question is bound to arise as to what kind of precedent this is setting.

Meanwhile let's hope everyone is OK, it looked pretty horrific

(as it happens I fell over on Saturday after tripping on a kerb and landed on my face.......bust lip, bruised hand and knee but I think I was very lucky and it puts into perspective the danger of falling off a bike at 40 or 50 K an hour.......)

I have seen bigger crashes in the past but normally the riders are back up and waiting for mechanics with only one two staying down, the difference this time was the number of riders who didn't get up

And now we have more echelons!

now we've got cross winds and echelons forming.....

Ten Dem had a dislocated shoulder put back in and got back on his bike

Gruppo compacto...all together now.

Cancellara sliding out of the back door with a growing group now they've hit the climbs

Cav has gone

Some people are going to lose a lot of time today the rate at which the gap is growing

it's gone up nearly a minute whilst I've typed this......

Peloton shatters on penultimate climb

All the big names are in the front group of about 25...........Froome on the front heading for the Mur

The cobbles and high mountains are still to come, but Froome has the best form so far.

Feel sorry for Tony Martin - second to Dennis in opening stage, second to Cancellara in GC yesterday and now second to Froome in GC by a solitary second!

Chapeau Laurens ten Dam.

Crash was pretty rad today tbf. Hard men.

Cancellara's day in the maillot jaune is certainly his last in this TdF. He won't be starting tomorrow (at least he didn't suffer the ignominy of quitting as GC leader), and neither will Daryl Impey (Orica already 2 riders down).

Speaking of Orica, here's the aftermath in the eyes of one of their mechanics...in a manner of speaking.

Watching it again now, that was a nasty high speed crash.

It's not always a good thing for a GC contender to be in the yellow jersey so early on but I was thinking for Froome tomorrow with the cobbles, other rider's may give him a bit more room and respect.

Re-clipping straps to a helmet after high speed crash is not a good idea. Bin it.

The fact that the peloton is disappearing down the road may have something to do with that.

No interviews or anything on Eurosport after the race finished, absolutely pathetic. I thought they may have been some on the highlights programme but there weren't any at all.

He could have collected one from the car with the replacement bike.

The guy is sitting stunned on the grass not chasing the team car for a bike. He was already resigned to losing time.

Wouldn't surprise me if he is in yellow tomorrow though. You would think he could find a second on Froome in a cobbled stage.

Just saw the crash on the news. Looked horrible. Kudos to those that carried on. Sometimes forget how fast they are actually going

It's essentially Paris-Roubaix 'lite' today. Intermediate sprint contested and Sagan jokingly suggests the five of them form their own breakaway. XD

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Sean Kelly reckons Cav will take it today - would have thought he'd go for Monument powerhouses Degenkolb or Kristoff, but we'll see in due course.

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Just read that storms are approaching the latter stages of the course! (Heh. )

I've never known so many advert breaks........I'm flicking between ES and ITV4 every couple of minutes and the ads are quite often on both at the same time.......

started spitting with rain

Dan Martin crashes