Everyone expected chaos at the end of the second stage of the Tour de France on the exposed Great Belt Bridge, where race leader Yves Lampère (Quick Step-Alfa Vinyl) suffered an unfortunate crash in the span of 18km.

The crash occurred after wheel contact in the peloton, and Lampère, who was right behind the fallen rider, was unable to avoid the crash and fell, along with Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) and Lampère's teammate, Michal Morkov.

Video footage shows that Lampaert quickly returned to his bike, appearing unharmed, and began chasing the main group with 18.7 km to go. Lampaert held on to the team car until Morkoff joined him, but he quickly pulled out of the pack and rejoined the front of the peloton with 16.7 km to go.

Rigoberto Urán (EF Education First) was also involved in the crash, along with Kevin Vermaquet (Team DSM), in a nervous battle for position before the bridge.

Uran, one of the GC's main contenders, rejoined the main group with 10km to go in a strong crosswind and headwind, surrounded by three of his teammates.

The feared echelon on the big bridge did not appear, and the peloton was ready to sprint en masse. With 2.2km to go, another crash occurred and many riders went down, but because it was in the last 3km, all 176 Tour de France riders were given the same time as stage winner Fabio Jacobsen (Quick Step-Alfa Vinyl).

"In the end it was OK. One of us crashed before the bridge, but thanks to everyone's hard work we were able to get going again. But he fell over again! But I fell over again! Luckily it was inside the last 3km so I wasn't stressed. I knew it was going to be a stage like this, but I got through it today.