Bradley Wiggins sported numerous cuts, bruises and abrasions as he sat on the stairs of the Team Sky bus following stage three of the Tour de France.

But Wiggins could reflect with sastifaction on his day's work, 24 hours after his crash in the rain on stage two.

"It was carnage but we knew it was going to be carnage, we've known for seven months it would be carnage - and it was carnage," he said.

"We ended up on the right side of [the crashes] this time and we're back in business."

Wiggins was slowed down by the crash that ended Saxo Bank rider Frank Schleck's Tour, but he remained upright. And although the decisive split had by that time gone clear, Wiggins settled into a chasing group that included defending champion Alberto Contador (Astana), and finished eighth on the stage, conceding only 53 seconds to overall rivals Cadel Evans (BMC) and Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank).

Wiggins played down the significance of the time he has reclaimed, which lifted him to 14th overall. "This is the Tour and we're only on day three," he said.

"There's a long way to go, but it was a good day today. Now we'll focus on tomorrow."

G a rising force

Wiggins paid tribute to his young British teammate, Geraint Thomas, who finished second on the stage - and also to Steve Cummings, who featured in the day's early break.

"Geraint did a fantastic ride," said Wiggins. "He's just showing the talent we always knew he had. He's really blossoming now. He's certainly going to be the new British name in these races in the next few years."

Cummings, he added, "was fabulous. That was all he was asked to do this morning - to get in the break, so he'd be of assistance when we got up to him."

And of his own performance, Wiggins said: "I felt good, really good. I responded well after the crash yesterday. I knew this morning it would be those who went out there with a fighting mentality who'd come out the other side, because everyone crashed, everyone had a bad day, yesterday."

With Contador in the same group, Wiggins said the priority was to work together. "We were all just pulling through, trying to gain as much time on Lance [Armstrong, who punctured] and the others who were out the back.

"Today we had lot of luck in terms of positioning, and not crashing," Wiggins added, "but it's just another day in the Tour... tomorrow's another day."