OYONNAX, France — The American rider Andrew Talansky’s hopes of winning the Tour de France effectively vanished after two crashes last week. But he became another kind of cycling hero Wednesday: the rider who would not quit when he probably should have.

Talansky started the 115-mile stage from Besançon with a prominent bandage on his right knee, a reminder of his dramatic crash near the finish in Nancy on Friday. Other scrapes, cuts and bruises were added to his body Saturday when he became tangled with several riders on a rainy descent.

By the end of Monday’s stage, Talansky, 25, was so stiff that he was unable to remove his jersey at the finish line without help from a team staff member.

The masseurs and physiotherapists of Talansky’s Garmin-Sharp team spent Tuesday’s rest day trying to get him back in form, but there was no miracle cure. On the plus side, Wednesday’s race, unlike most of the cold, wet French stages of this year’s Tour, took place under a sunny sky.