Tour de France: Briton second overall as Sky lose key man in crash

Sky team leader Bradley Wiggins remains in second place overall in the Tour de France after surviving a crash-strewn stage from Orchies to Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The past three days have been torrid for Wiggins and his colleagues, and on Tuesday he and team-mate Chris Froome were involved in a collision near the finish line. The Team Sky squad were reduced to eight as Kanstantsin Siutsou crashed out, suffering a broken left leg.

The 122-mile stage was won by Slovakia's Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), who also triumphed in Sunday's first stage.

Wiggins finished in 53rd place, almost one minute down, but avoided the loss of time because of a rule regarding crashes in the final 3km (1.86 miles).

Michael Rogers and Chris Froome were among those also to benefit. Wiggins stays second overall, seven seconds behind Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan).

Siuitsou's absence will become a factor for Sky when the Tour hits the mountains but team principal Dave Brailsford believes they can absorb his loss and continue their quest for the yellow jersey.

"You can't look backwards in this sport, you have to look forwards," said Brailsford after the stage. "It's like boxing. You take a punch, but as long as you have still got gloves on and are fighting you can still knock the other bloke out. That's the approach we have got to take.

"The first week of the tour is inherently risky, you just have to take it on the chin. It's a question of staying upright on your bike. Bradley has done that again today, he has got through, another box ticked and that's the way you have got to approach it.

"Obviously when you are down to eight riders you have got to use your resources accordingly but we re-group and go again tomorrow.

"It's not ideal because 'Kosta' is a strong rider, a classic mountain domestique and one of the key workers in the team. He rides well in the mountains but thankfully we have got a lot of strength in depth there, so I'm not sure we will suffer too much. The key thing is that we have a strong group and a strong spirit."

Despite the various dramas, Team Sky can still point to Edvald Boasson Hagen's second-place finish behind Sagan on the fierce uphill closing stretch in Boulogne.

Mark Cavendish again looked very sprightly in winning the intermediate bunch sprint behind the five-man break and was well positioned in the main bunch before he got caught in another mass pile-up 19 miles from home which caused the peloton to fracture in two.

Those on the wrong side of the fracture never got back on terms, and Cavendish, aware that today's stage into Rouen could end in another mass gallop, pedalled into Boulogne in his own time.

What Siutsou's absence does mean, however, is that on non-sprint days the world champion, described by Brailsford as a "phenomenal team man" could be asked to put in the occasional turn as a domestique.

Meanwhile, despite the crashes - and J?J Rojas was another to suffer yesterday with a broken collarbone - Sagan was again the major topic of conversation yesterday as he reeled off his second stage win in three days, precocious stuff for a 22 year-old making his Tour debut.

The Slovakian is confident to say the least, and before the stage he had asked his team-mates how he should celebrate in the event of another victory. It was they who came up with his bizarre Forrest Gump impression although, as a good Catholic boy, he added the sign of the cross.

"It's like watching Messi play football. You tip your hat, say 'chapeau', smile, and think 'well done'," said an admiring Brailsford. "He could be a threat at the Olympics but I'm not so sure he is a such a threat on a flat sprint as he is on an uphill sprint. I would imagine there are guys who will be faster than him on the flat but he will certainly be there."