Moldova's Alexandr Pliushkin makes Tour de France debut

Alexandr Pliushkin has become the first Moldovan to participate in the world's most prestigious cycling race – Tour de France, Info-Prim Neo reports. In the first stage of the 97th Tour de France, which followed a 225.5-kilometer segment from Rotterdam to Brussels, the Moldovan champion came in the 155th, despite being one of the leaders early in the stage. The Moldovan cyclist lost his luck on the final 9-kilometer portion of the stage. He also was involved in a mass crash just before the finish line. In the general standings, Alexandr Pliushkin, member of the Russian team Katyusha, is ranked 55th, 51 seconds behind Fabian Cancellara of Switzerand. At the same time, the Moldovan cyclist is ranked 15th among the under-23.