'Terrified for my life': Scary crash mars Tour of Dubai

A nasty crashed has rocked the opening stage of the Tour of Dubai, with Mark Cavendish revealing how scary the chaotic scenes were.

Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen won the stage to the Palm Jumeriah in a bunch sprint to the line that saw a whole heap of jostling for final positions.

Cavendish, who didn't manage to make the top 10, later described the frenetic opening stage as dangerous.

“It was chaotic at the finish, I was terrified for my life,” he told Cycling Weekly.

“I wasn’t trying to fight to get on a wheel, I was fighting to dodge guys who were turning left across the peloton.

"The UCI ruled over the winter that it was alright to cut across the peloton so I guess everyone was doing it now.”

The dangerous racing was highlighted by a nasty crash that wiped out a number of riders with eight kilometres to go.

“Everyone came in fresh and that’s always more dangerous because everyone thinks they can win," UAE sprinter Alexander Kristoff said.

"For sure it was dangerous, there was the crash and there were many almost crashes.

"That’s part of sprinting but today was pretty chaotic and I was even braking with 400m to go and I wasn’t the only one."