Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland retained the race leader's yellow jersey after the crash-marred Tour de France first stage won in spectacular fashion by Alessandro Petacchi of Lampre.
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.
VIDEO: Mark Renshaw post race interview
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Australian Adam Hansen breaks collarbone in crash
Crashes
Numerous crashes occurred in the closing kilometres of the 223.5km ride from Rotterdam to Brussels, leaving some 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 reduced the peloton further.
British sprint king Mark Cavendish, the winner of six stages last year, was among the big names also left out of contention, leaving his lead-out man, Australian Mark Renshaw, to go it alone.
After the carnage, Petacchi produced a thrill when he tried to shake his followers by pulling sharply to the left side of the road.
Seconds later he came over the finish line in victory, and later refused to accept it was devalued by the relative lack of quality in the final bunch.
"It wasn't unexpected for me. I'm here to sprint and win stages, and to do my best and that's what I did," said the Italian, who last appeared on the race in 2004 when he pulled out before the sixth stage.
"Of course Cavendish and I are sure to sprint against each other, but even if he hadn't been caught up in a crash who's to say I wouldn't have won. I think I did a great sprint."
Freire, a three-time world champion who is dangerous on almost any terrain, said the bad luck he suffered was just part of bike racing on the Tour.
"I was in a very good position, but the finish was quite dangerous," said the Spaniard.
"But that's bike racing, especially at the Tour. I was on Petacchi's wheel when I fell, but in the Tour it's always the best riders who win."
Yellow jersey
Cancellara took the yellow jersey on Saturday when he won the race's opening prologue over 8.9km in Rotterdam.
But the Olympic time trial champion paid his own price for staying up at the front of a chaotic and "nervous" bunch in his bid to keep hold of the race lead for as long as possible.
The Saxo Bank man had to brake hard to avoid a fallen rider, but still hit the asphalt.
"At the end I couldn't do anything. I had to brake hard, and ended up doing a bit of a somersault once I landed," said Cancellara, who admitted he was slowly starting to feel the pain of his tumble.
"Now with the time passing I feel like my shoulder and my whole left side are hurting."
Because the first half of the stage was held along the North Sea coast, some teams were expected to use the strong coastal winds to race hard in a bid to break up the peloton and put time into their rivals.
