Swift wins crash-ridden stage of Tour Down Under

Britain's Ben Swift won the second stage of the Tour Down Under cycle race on Wednesday, avoiding three crashes in the last four kilometres which felled British sprint star Mark Cavendish and overnight leader Matthew Goss.

Cavendish, riding for the U.S.-based team HTC-Highroad, suffered a serious cut above his right eye, deep lacerations and abrasions to his shoulder, side and knee but will contest the race's third stage on Thursday.

Australia's Goss, also racing for HTC-Highroad, fell but finished among the peleton, conceding the overall lead to compatriot Robbie McEwen who was second on the stage.

Graeme Brown of Australia was third in a chaotic finish, ahead of Romain Feillu of France and Jurgens Roelandts of Belgium.

Lance Armstrong, who finished 81st in the opening stage, was 42nd on day two and was credited with the same time as the winner to lie 60th among 133 riders on general classification in his last race outside the U.S.

McEwen, of Armstrong's Radio Shack team, heads the overall standings ahead of Goss and Swift who share his accumulated time for two stages of six hours 44 minutes 42 seconds. Defending champion Andre Greipel, who was second overnight, fell back to fourth on general classification, four seconds behind McEwen.

The 146-kilometre second stage from Tailem Bend to Mannum in the Murray River region of South Australia state was relatively uneventful until the last four kilometres when Cavendish and Goss fell.

The peleton had made a sharp left-hand bend when Cavendish slid on gravel, apparently kicked up by team support vehicles, and fell heavily bringing down Goss and American sprinter Tyler Farrar.

More riders came down when they skidded on gravel on a corner 3 kilometres from the finish, then a large group among the peleton crashed in a frantic sprint down the last 150 metre straightaway.

Britain's Geraint Thomas fell back through the field sharply in a bunched sprint and following riders, compressed into a tight finishing stretch in the main street of Mannum, attempted evasive action, collided and crashed to the ground.

McEwen avoided the worst of the carnage to take over the tour leader's ochre jersey.

"I'm very happy, I have the jersey through consistency … unfortunately, guys crashed [and] that also influenced things," he said. "I'm sure, otherwise, [Andre] Greipel and Matt Goss would have been up there in contention for the win, but that's part of bike racing.

"You have to actually get to the finish and bad luck is a part of racing. I was fortunate not to get caught up in it and it's delivered me the jersey."

Goss said there was "plenty of carnage" in the stage's last four kilometres. He was able to remount his bike after falling and to catch the peleton but said he was fortunate not to reach the front of the bunch where two more crashes wrecked the chances of some of the leading riders.

Goss finished 47th on the stage and Greipel 76th.

The most serious casualty was Australian Bernie Sulzberger who suffered a broken collarbone and was taken to hospital for surgery, needing a metal plate inserted to repair the injury. He has withdrawn from the remainder of the tour.

Cavendish ended the stage with his face caked in blood from cuts above and below his left eye which needed two stitches. He confirmed later he would race in Thursday's 129 kilometre third stage from Unley in suburban Adelaide to Stirling in the hills on the city's eastern fringe.