Team Sky ace was one of dozens of cyclists stuck behind a pile-up in La Roche-sur-Yon as Peter Sagan returned to winning ways in sprint
CHRIS FROOME narrowly avoided another Tour de France crash to finish safely on stage two.
Mark Cavendish was among the sprinters whose day was marred by of the smash on the final corner in La Roche-sur-Yon.
It meant the Manx Missile, 33, missed the chance to win his 31st Tour de France stage and get closer to Bernard Hinault’s 34 stage wins.
Froome, 33, flew off the road and into a grassy ditch during Saturday’s opening leg of the three-week race, but got straight back on to his bike.
The four-time Tour winner endured an uncomfortable lead-up to the race with his inhaler probe ending.
And there have been scares on the bike so far in the Vendee region.
World champ Peter Sagan won the stage, his first victory in a Tour since being kicked out of the race a year ago, for shoulder-barging Cavendish against a barrier.
Yesterday He beat Italian Sonny Colbrelli and Arnaud Demare on a slight incline after many of the top sprinters were caught behind the crash.
The top Brit in the race for the Yellow Jersey is Sky’s Geraint Thomas, who sits seventh and one second ahead of Cavendish on general classification.
Adam Yates and Froome are 1min 7sec back, with a 22-mile team time trial coming up today.
Thomas said: “That was the main thing, trying to stay out of trouble. It was even more nervous than yesterday and after what happened everyone was thinking about that.
“Everyone wanted to be even more far forward and it was pretty dodgy out there. Fortunately we rode well as a team and stayed out of trouble.
“With that bonus second we were there and nobody seemed to be going for it.
“So I said 'oh I'll have it then'. It didn't take any effort and you're not going to turn down a second.”
