Erik Zabel, the German sprint specialist, has admitted causing the spectacular crash which left wreckage strewn over the roads of Ghent during the second stage of the Tour de France yesterday.

The 37-year-old, who has won the green jersey six times, said he moved to avoid a collision with Tom Boonen, the Belgian who went on to finish second in the stage behind Gert Steegmans. "I had to avoid Boonen, who was riding in front of me," said Zabel.

Zabel's sharp change of direction led to a major pile-up, with riders crashing at speeds of 65km/h as they tried to avoid the German. Riders involved included race leader Fabian Cancellara, American George Hincapie and the Gerolsteiner team member Robert Forster, whose bike was broken in three places as he crashed into a barrier.

"All year long I didn't have any crashes, and now at the Tour I do, " Forster said. "I hit the barriers with 65km/h. An unpleasant experience."

The peloton was split in two by the crash, with 25 riders able to break cleanly away from the incident.

Zabel has been left to spearhead Milram's bid for stage victories, following the omission of Italian team-mate Alessandro Petacchi, who tested positive for abnormal levels of asthma drug salbutamol at the Giro d'Italia, where he won five stages.

Australian Robbie McEwen equalled Zabel's achievement of winning 12 Tour stages on Sunday, triumphing in the first stage from London to Canterbury. No active rider has a greater number of stage wins.