Ireland’s Sam Bennett is fit to start stage two of the Tour de France despite injuries suffered at the end of Saturday’s opening stage at Saint-Marie-du-Mont.
Bennet of Bora Argon-18 was one of the fallers in a sprint-finish crash at the end of the 188km stage, and while he managed to get back on his bike and finish the stage, he ended up in hospital for stitching to his hand - although importantly he suffered no fractures.
He said on stickybottle.com: “A few guys got tangled together and then came down in front of me and I couldn’t react in time.
“I scrubbed as much speed off as I could, but I came down hard. Initially I thought I didn’t come down too hard but it hurt a bit.”
Ireland's other competitor, Etixx-QuickStep rider Dan Martin, finished 54th, 32 seconds off the pace.
Today’s stage is a 183km race from Saint-Lo to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.
