Wiggins well placed as Britons start Tour well

After the opening weekend of the Tour de France two British riders are in the top four, while another has genuine hopes of winning the race. David Millar of Scotland, whose Garmin-Cervelo outfit won the team time trial on Sunday, is in second place behind team mate Thor Hushovd, while Welshman Geraint Thomas of Team Sky is in fourth place.

The British-based Sky team had hoped to see one of their riders in yellow after the 23km time trial on Sunday, but they finished four seconds behind Germin-Cervelo.

But the result was still good news for Sky's Bradley Wiggins, the Briton with the best chance of winning the race.

He, along with many other of the yellow-jersey hopefuls, now has a significant advantage over the reigning champion and race favourite Alberto Contador. The Spanish rider was caught behind a crash on the opening stage and lost more than a minute, while his Saxo Bank team were well off the pace in the team time trial, finishing 28 seconds behind the winners.

It all means that Wiggins is now one minute 38 seconds in front of Contador.

The crash during Saturday's opening stage has thrown the race wide open. It happened just five miles from the finishing line when a spectator leaned too far over a crash barrier and was hit by a rider from the Astana team. The rider went down and caused a domino effect in the peloton.

Contador, fellow Spaniard Samuel Sanchez and Ryder Hesjedal from Canada were the biggest names to be caught up in the carnage, and with only five miles to go their team mates were unable to help them make up much of the time they had lost.

It means that the likes of Wiggins, Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans and Jurgen van den Broeck will now try and maximise their advantage before the race arrives in the mountains at the end of the next week. Once there, Contador, a renowned climber, will be left with no option but to go for an all-out attack.

But it seems unlikely that he will be able to count on much support from the French crowd as he attempts to claw his way back into contention. Last summer Contador tested positive for a banned substance during the race and although he has been allowed to take part in this year's tournament he could yet be stripped of last year's title.

However, the case has badly affected his popularity in France where he has been booed and vilified by the media. ·