Tour de France: Bradley Wiggins powers out of danger zone Memories of crashing out of the Tour de France led Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky to "stop dithering" and increase the tempo on stage five to Saint-Quentin yesterday. After hitherto living dangerously in the opening week of the Tour, with world champion Mark Cavendish and Bernhard Eisel crashing heavily on stage four, a day after Kanstantsin Siutsou abandoned with a broken leg, Team Sky upped the ante. The change of tactics was an instruction from team principal Dave Brailsford, who described yesterday's performance as "a million miles better." Wiggins was forced out of the 2011 Tour with a fractured collarbone after a mid-peloton crash and endured some close calls before yesterday's 196.5-kilometre fifth stage from Rouen to Saint-Quentin. Team Sky operated a full eight-rider train in the finale, but world champion Cavendish, nursing wounds from his 70kph tumble in Rouen 24 hours earlier, could finish only fifth behind German sprinter Andre Greipel, who won for a second successive day. Wiggins said: "We wanted to be a bit more present. It wasn't necessarily about placing Cav today, but also myself. I've been a bit caught up in all the mess the last few days and thinking of last year. You just can't take any chances. Everyone realises where the safest place to ride is. It was just a conscious effort. We've got the legs, we've got one of the best teams so if we could use that a bit more and, as Dave B [Brailsford] said this morning "let's just stop dithering."" Team Sky's primary concern is Wiggins" ambition of being the first British Tour winner in Paris on 22 July. The 32-year-old Londoner remained second in the overall standings, seven seconds adrift of Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) and ten seconds ahead of seventh-placed Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), the defending champion. Asked about his Tour so far, Wiggins said: "I'm second. There's only one place to go. With the mountains and Monday's time-trial on the horizon, Wiggins is determined not to ride his luck. Team Sky sports director Sean Yates added: "We're approaching the crucial point in the race and we don't want to leave anything to chance. We've been lucky not having injury or bad luck which could cause Bradley to lose time stupidly. Brailsford added: "We decided today to make a zero-risk strategy. The way we rode today is the best way to keep Brad out of trouble and increase his chances of winning. For Wiggins, riding at the front of the peloton was about more than just positioning. "You risk de-training a bit in this first week because it's so easy in the peloton," he said. It was nice for me to hit the front and open up a little bit. The plan was justified as another late crash fractured the field with around 3km to go. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) fell and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) was among those to feel the impact of the domino effect. Sagan eventually finished 154th and Farrar last. The day always seemed destined to end in a sprint finish, even when Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis), who was part of the day's four-man escape, attacked in the final kilometre. He was eventually overhauled and Greipel was able to power away to victory. Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) was second, with Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) third, Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) fourth and Cavendish a place behind. For the second successive day Cavendish was denied the chance to draw level with Lance Armstrong and Andre Darrigade on 22 stage wins. Another chance should arise on the 207.5km sixth stage from Epernay to Metz, which is also likely to end in a mass sprint. Sagan's involvement in the crash helped Cavendish to trim the Slovakian's lead in the points classification standings. Cavendish led the peloton over the intermediate sprint mark, 87.5km from the end of the day's route to claim 11 points behind the four-man escape. Coupled with his fifth-place at the finish, Cavendish claimed 33 points for the day to move to 119 overall, 36 behind in fourth. Leader Sagan claimed eight to edge to 155 points overall.