There were a whole series of spills which struck the peloton on the 197 kilometres third stage from Orchies to the northern France coastal city of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

It was won by Slovakia's debutantrider Peter Sagan, who also triumphed in his maiden stage on Sunday (July 1).

Wiggins finished in 53rd place, almost one minute down after being caught in a crash less than 400 yards from the finish involving Italy's Marco Marcato (pictured), but avoided the loss of time due to a rule on crashes in the final two miles.


Wiggins remained second overall, seven seconds behind Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, who kept the race lead.

But Wiggins' hopes of grabbing the yellow jersey suffered a blow when his Team Sky squad were reduced to eight as Belarusian Kanstantsin Siutsou crashed out with a broken left leg.

"The first week of the Tour is inherently risky," said David Brailsford, Team Sky's principal.

"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.

"It's like boxing.

"You take a punch, as long as you have still got gloves on and are fighting, you can still knock the other bloke out."

Team Sky sports director Sean Yates, though, admitted that the loss of Siutsou was a big blow.

"We have to deal with it," he said.

"It will just impact on the workload of the other seven members of the team."

That includes world champion Mark Cavendish, the winner of stage two, who may need to do nursemaid duties like carrying extra water bottles.

"I'm sure he won't be allergic to that," said Yates.

"We have to share the workload."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
July 2012: Manx Missile powers to record Tour de France win
July 2012: Wiggins remains second in Tour de France after opening stage
June 2012: Wiggins makes strong start to Tour de France