Millar leads the British chase

The nine-man Garmin-Cervelo team clocked 24 minutes 48 seconds over the 23-kilometre course to deny Team Sky, who were equal second, a first Tour stage win and Geraint Thomas the opportunity to take the maillot jaune.

After two days of racing, all five British Tour participants are in the top 25 of the general classification and more success could follow as Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) is the favourite for today’s 198km third stage from Olonne-sur-Mer to Redon, which is anticipated to end in a bunch sprint.

Team Sky yesterday were second equal – alongside BMC Racing and Leopard Trek – in 24mins 52secs, to place leader Bradley Wiggins 12th, four seconds back alongside Thomas, who sits fourth overall.

Two-time runner-up Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) and Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) are one and four seconds behind, respectively, while defending champion Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) lost more time after a difficult first day and is now 1:42 behind.

Rotherham’s Ben Swift finds himself in 24th place, well-placed going into today’s third stage.

Millar savoured Garmin-Cervelo’s first Tour stage win, believing the success was extra special as it was shared.

The Scot said: “It’s the stuff you dream of, so to achieve it is a wonderful feeling.

“It’s a team experience. To sit there all of us and experience the same tensions as each other was a unique feeling.

“The energy was crazy and the emotions are so much stronger than winning an individual time-trial.

“I’ve won a fair few of those but this is on a whole different level.

“It’s so much better to share the emotions run so high.”

Millar, riding in his 10th Tour, wore the yellow jersey early in his career and has three individual stage wins to his credit, but none since his confession for doping and subsequent ban.

The 34-year-old, who returned to the sport in 2006, is now a fervent anti-doping campaigner and has personal ambitions this month.

He added: “I’d like to win a stage. I’ll enjoy this and see what happens tomorrow.”

Wiggins, who finished fourth in 2009 while riding in Millar’s team, insisted Team Sky did everything they could to claim a first Tour stage win.

Wiggins, who struggled to 24th place in the 2010 Tour, said: “When you come away from a race like that knowing there’s nothing else you could have done, to finish second there’s certainly no disappointment there.

“It was about getting the maximum out of every rider today.

“Everyone played their role – it was just a fantastic performance.

“I gained more time on some of the guys. At the moment it’s looking good and it’s been a fantastic start to this Tour de France – a complete contrast to last year.”

The only negative as far as Wiggins was concerned was the missed opportunity to propel Thomas into the race lead.

Wiggins added: “That’s the only slight tinge of disappointment was that he didn’t get the jersey.

“He really deserved it and it would’ve been fantastic for his Tour de France to get it.”

Thomas, who again will wear the white jersey for best young rider today, did not dwell on the lost chance and like Wiggins focused on the positives.

The 25-year-old from Cardiff said: “We just wanted to win.

“It was full gas.

“I don’t think we could have done a lot differently.

“Technically we did quite well. It didn’t quite happen in the end but we all gave our best and that’s what you need to do.”

Cavendish’s HTC-Highroad squad lost Bernard Eisel due to a mishap after 500m of the team time-trial, meaning they were disadvantaged from the start.

But Eisel, Cavendish’s bodyguard in the peloton, is set to play his role today as the Manxman bids for the 16th Tour stage victory of his career.

As for Contador, the Spaniard was satisfied to minimise his time losses yesterday.

The 28-year-old, who is the subject of a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing into his positive drugs test at last year’s Tour, said: “I’m content with the team’s performance today.

“The team gave everything we had and finished in a good time.

“My opponents are still ahead of me in the GC (general classification) and I might not even be the biggest favourite to win overall anymore.

“But there’s a long way to Paris and we will do anything to gain time to get back.”