Australian Simon Gerrans is one of four abandons from the Tour de France following a major crash just over 100km into the third stage, won by Joaquim Rodriguez.
Chris Froome, the 2013 champion, took second on the crash-marred third stage over 159.5km from Antwerp to the infamous Mur (wall) de Huy in Belgium.
Fabian Cancellara, who started the stage as leader, was also caught up in the crash, which involved 20 riders, but gingerly soldiered on before conceding the leader’s yellow jersey to Froome, who holds a one-second advantage over Tony Martin.
Cancellara was not amongst the four to abandon but, visibly hurt, he struggled to keep up and was definitively dropped with 20km left, giving up several minutes by the finish.
It was more Tour heartache for the Orica GreenEdge leader Gerrans, who last year was taken out by Mark Cavendish in the sprint finish on the first stage and had to abandon there and then.
This year the 35-year-old fared only slightly better, making it only to the third stage.
On a stright road in clear conditions with bright sunshine, FDJ rider William Bonnet clipped the wheel of Warren Barguil in front and went down suddenly, causing a ripple through the peloton.
Such was the seriousness of the crash that organisers immediately neutralised the race for a short spell as medics and team officials tended to the injured.
Bonnet was forced to abandon the race, as was Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin, who was third overall at six seconds and the holder of the best young rider’s white jersey.
Froome gained 11 seconds on his overall rivals, defending champion Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana, while Alberto Contador lost 18sec.
Froome is now 36 seconds ahead of Contador with Nibali at 1min 39sec and Quintana at almost two minutes.
Tejay Van Garderen is third overall at 13sec ahead of Frenchman Gallopin and Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet.