BANG-BAM-BOOM: Tour brass will surely preen with pride at the huge crowds lining the route across the heart of Brittany, but not everyone was happy that the opening prologue was ditched in favor of a hectic, nervous road stage.

Since 1967, the Tour started with some form of a time trial. This year, Christian Prudhomme wanted to shake things up and simply decided to let them sprint for the yellow jersey.

After Saturday’s wild and nervous opener, many were wishing for the warm confines of a short, one-at-a-time race against the clock. Specialists like Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole), winner of the opening prologue in 2006, were wishing the prologue was back.

“I think I would have had a good chance to win the yellow jersey if there was a prologue,” said Hushovd, who also won prologues at Paris-Nice and Dauphiné Libéré this year. “It’s nice to change things around a little bit, but it’s too bad for me. And I think today’s stage will be too steep for me.”

The first road stage certainly delivered some sparks. Scores of riders hit the deck in opening-day race jitters, strong winds and narrow roads conspired to make for a painful debut of the 95th Tour.

Ag2r saw three of its riders go down while Johan Van Summeren (Silence-Lotto) plowed into the back of a team car, yet managed to finish the stage with cuts to his face and thigh.

“I’m glad that’s over,” a relieved Cadel Evans said at the line. “I got through today without any problems. That’s the main thing.”

Hervé Duclos-Lassalle had the dubious honor of becoming the first rider to abandon the Tour when he crashed in the feed zone when another rider’s musset got tangled up in his wheel, leaving him with a broken wrist.

Worse off was Colombian climbing specialist Mauricio Soler (Barloworld), who hit the deck in the middle of the pack late in the stage and landed hard on the same wrist he broke in the Giro d’Italia.

Soler, winner of the stage to Briancon and the best climber’s jersey in his spectacular debut last year, limped across the line 170th at 3:04 back. Team officials didn’t sound optimistic as they transported him to a local hospital and refused comment until X-rays were taken. Their worst fear is that Soler could be out of the race.

Carlos Sastre summed up the feeling for everyone: “It wasn’t your typical start to the Tour. It was a very nervous stage and everyone was fighting to be at the front. Let’s hope things calm down.”

POPO BELIEVES: Yaroslav Popovych is fast becoming a Cadel Evans believer.

After helping Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador win the Tour with Discovery Channel, he’s now the top lieutenant in the mountains as Silence-Lotto rallies around the ex-mountain biker. The Ukraine promises to be faithful to his new boss and sacrifice his chances for the good of the team.

“My job is to help Cadel. I’d like to win a stage if possible,” he said Saturday morning. “My form is good. Like all years. I will be ready in the hard mountains.”

Evans probably skipped a beat when Popovych hit the deck with several riders with 60km to go, but he was able to quickly regain contact with the pack and finish 49th at 18 seconds back.

When asked about the difference between Evans and Armstrong, “Popo” came up with this zinger: “With Lance, always winning. With Evans, hoping winning.”

EURO FINES: Here’s another consequence of the fallout between the UCI and ASO in this year’s Tour. With the French cycling federation acting as commissaires, fines are being issued in euros instead of Swiss francs. That’s going to make those fines that much more painful for the four U.S. riders in the peloton. The dollar trades at about 1.58 to the euro these days.

SIN COMMENTARIO: Alejandro Valverde’s blood pressure kicked up a few points when a German journalist queried about his alleged links to Operación Puerto, which have haunted Valverde since the scandal broke in 2006. Valverde’s teeth clenched and tersely replied, “If you want to believe that, that’s up to you. No comment.” Another journalist asked him what he thought about the decision by Italian officials not to interrogate riders suspected to be linked to Puerto. “I don’t care either way. If they wanted to talk to me, I was more than ready. If they don’t, that’s fine, too.” It probably won’t be the last time Puerto comes up in this Tour.

CHAPEAU: Hat’s off to Jonathan Vaughters for reaching the Tour de France with Garmin-Chipotle. The team’s come a long way from its humble beginnings in 2003 to reaching the sport’s biggest stage.

“It’s been a long, arduous process and it’s thanks to Doug Ellis and people who’ve believed in us all along, even when times were tough for cycling,” Vaughters said before Saturday’s start. “The time to be nervous for us was three, four weeks ago when we were making all the preparations for the Tour. That everything had to be at its best. Plus, we had a new sponsor coming on and we had to change everything on the team,

As for the team’s overall expectations, Vaughters said Christian Vande Velde and Trent Lowe will be their protected GC riders while riders such David Millar, Julian Dean and Martin Maaskant will be on the hunt for stage victories.

“We really have a kind of Musketeers atmosphere on the team. We’re racing every day as if it were a new day. We don’t really have someone for the GC, but some of these guys are in the best shape of their life,” he said. “We hope to win a stage with a rider like Martin. If he gets into a breakaway, he’s very smart tactically. If he’s in a group of 10 to 15 guys, he’ll win the sprint. He’s very strong, but quiet away from the bike. On the bike, he’s got that killer instinct. He’s an animal.”

The team did well in its first Tour stage, putting Millar into 11th at just one second off the yellow jersey. Vande Velde and Lowe finished safely tucked in the second group at seven seconds back, in 18th and 36th, respectively.

ATTACKING SPANISH: Two of Saturday’s main protagonists were back on familiar turf. David de la Fuente (Saunier-Duval) and Ruben Pérez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) were both on the march in the day’s eight-man break.

Last year, Pérez led the peloton with 512km riding in breakaways and he wasted no time to padding his stats sheet.

De la Fuente, winner of the 2006 most combative award, snuck away from the dying break with Lillian Jegou (FDJeux), but with 8km to go, the peloton swallowed them whole. The pair shook hands and it was all over. The day’s combative prize went to Jegou, who initiated the day’s move. The French couldn’t give that away, at least not on the first day.