THE Tour de France peloton met a second day of destruction as rain-soaked roads wreaked havoc on the second stage from Brussels to Spa.

The 201-kilometre stage from the Belgian capital through spring classics country encountered wet weather, which made the descents of the 97th Tour’s first six climbs treacherous – even forcing Lance Armstrong to contemplate why he was still riding two months prior to his 39th birthday.

The day belonged to QuickStep’s Sylvain Chavanel, who scored a solo victory to ensure he will be in the race leader’s yellow jersey when the Tour reaches his native France today.

Chavanel was part of an eight-man break before forging forward alone to score victory by almost four minutes.

Race favourite and two-time winner Alberto Contador, 2009 runner-up Andy Schleck, seven-time winner Armstrong, world champion Cadel Evans and general classification hopefuls Christian Vande Velde and Bradley Wiggins were among those to crash.

Team Garmin-Transitions leader Vande Velde was taken to hospital for further assessment along with the squad’s sprinter, Tyler Farrar, who had hoped to challenge for the points classification’s green jersey. Chavanel was overjoyed, despite the events which unfolded behind him.

He said: “I didn’t know what was going on behind me, although I did hear there had been a crash. All I know is that I gave it everything I had.

“But whether the stage ended up being neutralised or not, it doesn’t take anything away from my win.”