Marcus Ljungqvist was left feeling mixed emotions after a testing race at the Strade Bianche Eroica.

The sports director looked on intently from the team car as Thomas Löfkvist claimed second place in Tuscany, and that result proved a late boost after the day had been in danger of being overshadowed by Peter Kennaugh's crash with 70km to go, which resulted in a broken collarbone for the 20-year old Manxman.

"Peter's in hospital now, with a broken left collarbone," said Ljungqvist at the finish in Siena. "He fell on a gravel road, but he's a strong little guy. At the moment it looks like a simple fracture."

If Kennaugh is looking for encouragement he could speak to his team-mate Kurt Asle Arvesen, who, having suffered a broken collarbone at last month's Tour of Qatar, will return to competition on Wednesday at Tirreno-Adriatico.

The road that proved Kennaugh's undoing is also one of the unique selling points of the Strade Bianche, which uses white farm dirt roads, where the surface is loose, and can be dangerous. It was on one such road that Kennaugh fell.

"That's how it goes sometimes," shrugged Ljungqvist. "But Peter will be back soon.

Good result

"I suppose it was both good and bad today," continued the Swede, who saw two of his riders finish in the top ten, with Löfkvist's second, and Juan Antonio Flecha's eighth place.

"The guys were strong and showed that they deserve to be up there. Thomas was good, and went close to doing the double [having won this race in 2009]. Flecha was good too, and the team rode well overall.

"With all these races you need a bit of luck, but we saw that the guys up there today were the real strong guys - and we had two in that decisive break. I wouldn't say it's a disappointment that we couldn't manage to win. The guys did well."