Dramatic day at the Tour

Sylvain Chavanel claimed the stage victory, and the yellow jersey, on a dramtic second stage of the Tour de France.

Team Sky live to fight another day

Bradley Wiggins was one of several general classification contenders involved in a large crash before Sylvain Chavanel claimed a breakaway victory on the second stage of the Tour de France. Wiggins hit the deck along with the likes of Fränk and Andy Schleck, Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador around 30 kilometres from home and the confusion that followed allowed Chavanel to press on by himself to the finish line, three minutes and 56 seconds ahead of the unimpressed peloton, who refused to contest the sprint and crossed the line as one. The result also ensured that Chavanel snatched the yellow jersey from Fabian Cancellara and the Frenchman now holds a 2min 57sec advantage over the Swiss rider.

Testing times

Despite that setback, Wiggins and the rest of Team Sky will live to fight another day, but team principal Dave Brailsford admitted that it had been a testing day for everyone involved. After the stage he told us: "First there was a crash with Michael Barry. He hurt his backside but he's okay. Then they got to that descent off the Côte de Stockeu and down there it was just like an ice rink, it was absolute carnage. There were bodies and bikes everywhere. "The Schlecks went down really heavily. The front group - Cancellara, a couple of Cervelo guys, Evans and some BMC guys - got through unscathed but behind Armstrong, Contador, the Schlecks, Bradley, Hincapie and others all went. They all came down in exactly the same patch - it was a super-slippery road. "Brad bust his bike so Edvald gave him his and in the front group we had Thomas and Flecha and the riders all started talking amongst themselves about it being such a big crash behind that they shouldn't really ride. So they decided they wouldn't, it all came back together and that was it. "Brad's got bumps and bruises and it's the same with Simon and Michael." After an equally dramatic conclusion to the previous day, the peloton was hoping for a quieter stage as it rolled out of Brussels, and all looked to be going to plan as Chavanel and seven other riders eased ahead early on. Their advantage was never allowed to grow much over four minutes and the group had splintered as they hit the Wallonian hills. Only Chavanel and Jürgen Roelandts remained as they hurtled down the Côte de Stockeu, but fortune was about to favour the Frenchman. While Roelandts was hauled back in the closing stages, Chavanel battled on tirelessly to achieve a brave victory. Details later emerged that Garmin-Transitions leader Christian Vande Velde was taken to hospital for further assessment along with the squad's sprinter, Tyler Farrar, who had hoped to challenge for the points classification.

Armstrong: Everyone hurting

Seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong admitted feeling worse for wear himself before reflecting on how the stage had unfurled. He said: "I predicted carnage for tomorrow, not for today. It was pretty even, in the sense that almost everybody crashed. Everybody will be a little banged up and hurting tomorrow. "After yesterday and today, I think the vast majority of the peloton has been on the ground at least once." Stage two result: 1 - Sylvain Chavanel - (FRA) - Quick-Step - (4:40:48)
2 - Maxime Bouet - (FRA) - AG2R - (+3:56)
3 - Fabian Wegmann - (GER) - Milram - (+3:56)
4 - Robbie McEwen - (AUS) - Katyusha - (+3:56)
5 - Christian Knees - (GER) - Milram - (+3:56)
6 - Jürgen Roelandts - (BEL) - Omega Pharma-Lotto - (+3:56)
7 - Thor Hushovd - (NOR) - Cervélo - (+3:56)
8 - Linus Gerdemann - (GER) - Milram - (+3:56)
9 - Matthieu Ladagnous - (FRA) - FDJ - (+3:56)
10 - Bernhard Eisel - (AUT) - HTC-Columbia - (+3:56)
Overall standings: 1 - Sylvain Chavanel - (FRA) - Quick-Step - (10:01:25)
2 - Fabian Cancellara - (SUI) - Saxo Bank - (+2:57)
3 - Tony Martin - (GER) - HTC-Columbia - (+3:07)
4 - David Millar - (SCO) - Garmin - (+3:17)
5 - Lance Armstrong - (USA) - RadioShack - (+3:19)
6 - Geraint Thomas - (WAL) - Team Sky - (+3:20)
7 - Alberto Contador - (ESP) - Astana - (+3:24)
8 - Tyler Farrar - (USA) - Garmin - (+3:25)
9 - Levi Leipheimer - (USA) - RadioShack - (+3:25)
10 - Edvald Boasson Hagen - (NOR) - Team Sky - (+3:29)