METZ, France - A chaotic crash at the Tour de France marred the sixth stage and dealt a heavy blow to the U.S. Garmin-Sharp team.
Young Slovak sensation Peter Sagan avoided Friday's cross-the-road pile-up to claim his third stage win in a sprint finish. Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland also rode clear of the mess to retain the yellow jersey.
The crash caused Garmin's Ryder Hesjedal, one of the Tour's favorites, to lose more than 13 minutes and U.S. teammate Tom Danielson to drop out.
The 129-mile ride from Epernay to Metz began in the Champagne region of France, with roadside fans holding aloft glasses of bubbly to cheer the riders.
But as the pack picked up speed to chase four breakaway riders with about 16 miles to go, at least two dozen riders spilled across a rural road. Many were downed and dazed, looking for team staffers in a jumble of injured riders and bikes.
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"It was like a trench hit by a (grenade) when I entered the crash to give my bike to Bauke," Rabobank's Laurens Ten Dam said on Twitter, referring to teammate Bauke Mollema. "Lots of blood and screaming. Carnage."
Danielson, eighth in last year's Tour, was already nursing a separated shoulder suffered earlier. In Friday's spill, he was briefly knocked unconscious, and rushed to a hospital for hip, collarbone and elbow injuries.
"It was the scariest crash I've ever been in," Garmin veteran David Millar, covered in chain grease. The riders were going at least 43 mph at the time, he said.
"God knows how it happened," Millar said.
Canada's Hesjedal - winner of the Giro d'Italia in May - injured his knee and lost 13 minutes, 20 seconds, all but ending his chances for a top-three finish. He began the stage in ninth, 18 seconds back, and is now 108th.
RadioShack leader Frank Schleck of Luxembourg, who was third in last year's Tour, said he had pain in his hip, elbow and shoulder and that team tactics may need to be revised for Saturday. Two other contenders, Bradley Wiggins and defending champion Cadel Evans, escaped unscathed.
A Tour medical report listed 27 riders as injured on the day - two hospitalized from the first crash, and eight from the second. Aside from Danielson, Tour officials listed the other dropouts as Mikel Astarloza of Eustaltel-Euskadi, Davide Vigano of Lampre and Wouter Poels of Vacansoleil.
The casualty count continued. Rabobank's Maarten Wynants pulled out with two broken ribs and a punctured lung. Katusha said three-time world champion Oscar Freire had a broken rib, becoming at least the sixth to drop out on the day.
The total eclipsed the four withdrawals due to either crashes or illness across six previous days in total.
Overall, Cancellara leads ahead of Wiggins - a pre-race favorite hoping to become the first Briton to win the Tour - by seven seconds. Evans climbed one spot to sixth, and is now 17 seconds back, after Edvald Boassen Hagen lost more than two minutes in a crash.
The race moves into the mountains today with a 123-mile ride to the ski resort of La Planche des Belles Filles.
Today
• What: Tour de France, Stage 7
• When: 5 a.m.
• TV: Channel 4
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