For the second day in a row, Andrew Talansky hit the deck in today's stage of the Tour de France and this time there was no three kilometre rule to protect him. The American ended up losing more than two minutes to his podium rivals.

Having won the Criterium du Dauphiné, Andrew Talansky went into the Tour de France as a red-hot candidate for the podium and the young American got his race off to a great start. He survived the carnage of the first six stages and even performed very well on the cobbles.

Over the last two days, however, things have turned sour for Talansky. Yesterday he crashed on the finishing straight but the three kilometre rule protected him from losing time.

Racing on slippery roads, he again crashed in today's stage when he hit the deck on the descent leading to the final climb. Taking a lot time to put his chain back on, he ended up losing more than two minutes to his rivals.

“The team did a really great job in preparation for the last climb and we were sitting in a good position. Unfortunately you can see how the weather is and the roads, the asphalt is very different,” directeur sportif Charly Wegelius told Cyclingnews. “In some corners it’s pretty smooth and in others it’s pretty rough. Unfortunately at that stage of the race he crashed and we’re just going to wait now till Prentice [Steffen], the doctor, gets back and can see exactly how he is.”

“We’re always hopeful and positive, but first we need to make a serious assessment of what the situation is and make a plan from there. This is the Tour, these things happen. One day it’s us and another day it’s somebody else, especially with these weather conditions that’s going to be the case even more than ever.”

According  to the medical communiqué, the American, winner of the last Dauphine, suffers from "multiple contusions".  35th in the stage, 4:35 adrift, the Garmin Sharp team leader is now 16th overall, 4:22 behind Vincenzo Nibali.