Team Sky got safely through another day of racing at the Criterium du Dauphiné but the British team had a small scare when co-leader Richie Porte was involved in a crash. The Australian did, however, escape unscathed and the team now hopes to get through tomorrow's third stage before the GC battle heats up in Wednesday's time trial.

With Chris Froome and Richie Porte in its line-up, Team Sky has probably the two biggest favourites for the overall win at this week's Criterium du Dauphiné. Despite numerous climbs, the first three stages are, however, not hard enough to make a real difference between the overall contenders, and so the opening days of racing are all about staying safe for the British team.

They managed to do just that during today's second stage but got an unpleasant surprise when Porte, winner of this year's Paris-Nice, was involved in a crash. Luckily, the Australian came away from the incident without any major injuries and finished safely in the main peloton alongside team leader Froome.

“It was another textbook display from the team today," sports director Nicolas Portal said. "They rallied around Richie and Froomey for the whole day, and when Richie got caught behind a small crash on the penultimate climb they all went flat out to get him back towards the front of the bunch. Richie did go down but he’s not badly injured and it shouldn’t affect his performance."

Yesterday, the team had hoped to see Edvald Boasson Hagen mix it up in the sprint but the Norwegian showed surprising signs of weakness by getting dropped on the penultimate climb. Hence, the team chose to play the cards of Geraint Thomas and Peter Kennaugh in the sprint at the end of today's hilly stage, but their earlier efforts cost them and they had to settle for 11th and 17th respectively.

“When he was back in the bunch we put Pete (Kennaugh, ed.) and G (Thomas, ed.) on the front for that last climb and once they’d done their job they were given the freedom to push on," Portal explained. "They both tested their legs on that sprint but their earlier efforts took their toll a bit and the pure sprinters came around them."

The team is, however, in a good state and the only struggling rider is the usually very strong Vasil Kiryienka.

“The main goal today though was for Richie and Froomey not to lose any time, and we did that well," Portal said. "The rest of the team are fine – Vasil was tired today but he’s coming off a big training block and his condition will improve every day.”

Tomorrow's stage is easier than today's as it is mostly flat and only a couple of late category 3 climbs and a final descent to the finish could pose any danger. Portal hopes to see his team come safely through another day before Wednesday's crucial time trial will give Porte and Froome the first opportunity to deal their rivals a blow.

“Tomorrow will be the same again," he said. "There are no major difficulties during the first half of the race, but we’ll need to be vigilant on those two third-category climbs towards the end, and also on that descent in the last 10km. Europcar should manage things again in defence of the jersey, and then we’ll expect the likes on Cannondale and Omega Pharma – Quick-Step to step things up at the end. We have to remain well positioned and make sure there are no major surprises.”

Starting at 12.45 you can follow the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.