Garmin-Cervélo surged close to victory in Wednesday’s fast and rainy stage across the Massif Central as Tyler Farrar sprinted to third in the 11th stage at the Tour de France.

Canadian Ryder Hesjedal is nursing sore ribs and a bruised back and neck. But he's grateful he's made it through the first nine stages of the Tour de France.

"A lot of guys have left the race with serious injuries," he told The Canadian Press during Monday's rest day. "I'm just happy to still be in the race and still be in one piece. . . . I just feel for the guys that have gone home with broken bones. It's not fun."

This year's Tour has been a wild ride with competitors clipped by motorcycles, cars, spectators and guardrails. Rain, narrow roads and mass crashes have added to the mayhem.

Garmin-Cervélo came close to victory in Tuesday’s 10th stage by sprinting to fourth in the 158km stage from Aurillac to Carmaux as the 2011 Tour de France clicked back into gear following Monday’s rest day.

Thor Hushovd kept himself in good position at the end of a high-speed, technical final kilometer to charge toward the line in a promising result that bodes well for the reigning world champion.

“I want to try to get a stage win, but I’ve already had a successful Tour,” Hushovd said.

“There are not many chances left in the sprints, because there are quite a few mountain stages coming up, so it will be difficult to win. I am feeling tired now. Perhaps I can try to get in a breakaway later in the Tour. I want to recover a little bit, then we’ll see.”

Garmin-Cervélo survived a rough and tumble day at the Tour de France that saw American time trial champion Dave Zabriskie crash out of the race with a broken wrist.

Thor Hushovd’s week-long run in the maillot jaune finally ended after a three-man breakaway held clear to the line in the hilly, 208km ninth stage from Issoire to Saint-Flour across France’s Massif Central. A big mid-stage crash that saw some big names crash out of the Tour disrupted the pace of the chase. The main pack rode slowly to allow injured riders to regain contact, an act of solidarity that cost Hushovd a chance to try to defend the yellow jersey on the short, uphill run to the finish line in Saint-Flour.

“It’s been a fantastic run in the yellow jersey. I was able to keep it long than I expected,” Hushovd said, who slipped to 24th overall. “It was a hard stage and we had the situation under control, but when the accident happened, we respected the situation and waited for the guys to come back. Then it was game-over for the yellow jersey.”