Brussels, Belgium — Lance Armstrong saw it coming: tight turns, narrow roads, big crowds and nervous riders would make crashes likely in Sunday’s first stage at the Tour de France.

Italy’s Alessandro Petacchi crosses the finish line to win the first stage of the Tour de France cycling race on Sunday. He finished ahead of Mark Renshaw of Australia, bottom left, in Brussels, Belgium.

He sure was right.

The seven-time Tour champion emerged unscathed after at least six crashes bedeviled the sun-baked stage through Dutch and Belgian flatlands that was won by Alessandro Petacchi of Italy, who avoided a big pileup in the final straightaway.

Race leader Fabian Cancellara tumbled and defending champ Alberto Contador scraped a leg against another bike after he hit his brakes in the logjam that blocked the road. Neither was seriously hurt.

The 139-mile course from Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Brussels, started with three mid-stage crashes and finished with another three in the last two miles.

“Total mayhem,” Armstrong said.

Even so, the overall standings didn’t change. Tony Martin of Germany remained 10 seconds behind Cancellara, who won Saturday’s prologue. Britain’s David Millar was third, 20 seconds off the Swiss rider. Armstrong trailed another 2 seconds back and Contador was sixth, 5 seconds behind his American rival.

American Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloeden of Germany were among 12 riders who suffered cuts and bruises in the spills. Adam Hansen of HTC-Columbia fell in an early crash and may have a broken collarbone. Britain’s Mark Cavendish and Oscar Freire of Spain crashed while negotiating a sharp turn in the final miles. They returned to the race but were out of contention for the stage victory.

NBA

Johnson agrees to stay in Atlanta

Atlanta — All-Star guard Joe Johnson has agreed to a maximum contract to stay with the Atlanta Hawks, his agent said Sunday.

Arn Tellem confirmed an entry he wrote for the Huffington Post, in which he said Johnson would re-sign with Atlanta for six more years.

The Hawks can pay him nearly $120 million, while other teams could only give Johnson five years and pay him about $25 million less.

College administration

Athletic director out at Georgia

Atlanta — A person familiar with the decision says Damon Evans is out as Georgia’s athletic director. The person spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity.

A conference call of the athletic association’s board of directors executive committee is scheduled today. It will include University of Georgia president Michael Adams. Evans was arrested and charged with DUI late Wednesday. On Thursday, Evans said he “failed miserably” as a leader and representative of Georgia.

Golf

Rose holds on, wins by one shot

Newton Square, Pa. — Staked to a five-shot lead at the turn, Justin Rose finished with seven straight pars and closed with an even-par 70 to hold on for a one-shot victory Sunday in the AT&T National, his second PGA Tour title in his last three events.

He had three-putt bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes — after having gone 274 consecutive holes without one on the PGA Tour — and suddenly his lead was down to two. Then came a furious charge from Ryan Moore, who one-putted his last eight greens for a 65 to close within one. Rose rolled in a 30-inch par putt on the last hole for the victory.

Tiger Woods shot a 1-over 71, marking the first time in 11 years that he didn’t break par over four rounds in a regular PGA Tour event. He wound up 14 shots behind Rose.

Choi survives two-hole playoff

Sylvania, Ohio — Na Yeon Choi made a two-foot birdie on the second playoff hole to win the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.

Choi converted a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to join fellow South Koreans In-Kyung Kim, Song-Hee Kim and American Christina Kim in the playoff on Sunday.

After all four missed birdie putts on the first extra hole, Choi hit her third shot close and rolled in the putt for her third career LPGA Tour victory.

Soccer

Brazil fires national coach Dunga

Rio DeJaneiro — Dunga is out as coach of Brazil’s national soccer team. The coach and his staff were fired Sunday, two days after Brazil was beaten by the Netherlands in the World Cup quarterfinals. The decision was widely expected after the 2-1 loss to the Dutch. A new coach will be appointed before the end of the month.

High security for Argentine team

Buenos, Argentina — Argentina’s national team returned home Sunday amid high security after an exit from the World Cup that many fans felt was humiliating and premature.

The Aerolineas Argentinas flight arrived from South Africa, where Germany ended Argentina’s hopes with a convincing 4-0 victory on Saturday.

Police took extreme measures to prevent fans from reaching the capital’s international airport. Customs and immigration officials processed the players and coaching staff at the plane, and a bus took them directly from the tarmac to the Argentine Football Association’s nearby headquarters without passing through the airport building.