The Manx express defeated his former teammate Andre Greipel and last year’s green jersey winner Alessandro Petacchi, to move him in to third in the standings. HTC have struggled to get their famous lead-out right, this year, but Mark Renshaw and Matt Goss timed it perfectly to allow their sprinter the best chance.
Jose Joaquin Rodriguez managed to pinch the green jersey back, off the shoulders of Philip Gilbert, but neither looks like they will hold it for much longer. There was a clean run in to the finish, but some riders weren’t so look with 30km to go. Bradley Wiggins was caught up in a crash, in the middle of the peloton, which also took out Chris Horner and Tyler Farrar. Television pictures showed the Brit being attended to by medics, as he held his arm, which was later confirmed as a broken collar bone. A couple of Team Sky riders stayed back ready to get their leader back to the peloton, but left once Wiggins was moved to the side of the road.
Another major withdrawal was Tom Boonen, who has not had the best tour, after suffering a crash in Stage 5. Boonen was hoping to make a triumphant return to the Tour, after missing last year’s with a knee injury. The Belgian hadn’t featured in any of the bunch sprints, finding himself too far off the pace to contend them.
Vasil Kiryienka didn’t sign on in the morning due to finishing outside the time limit in the previous stage, finishing almost half an hour down on the leaders. The copious crashes have been taking their toll on the riders, with Sylvain Chavanel’s tour handing by a thread after also crashing on Stage 5. However, the terrain did allow for the riders to rest their legs slightly, before the race hits the hills. So it wasn’t a surprise when four riders went for the break, after only 6km gone.
Their gap increased pretty quickly, with the peloton happy to let them go up the road, but they didn’t let them go too far, only maxing out at 6:27. They were finally caught with 12km to go, when the sprinter’s teams took charge of the peloton.
Tomorrow’s Stage 8 will be the toughest so far, with one second category climb, and a chance for the Mountain Jersey hopefuls to stake their claim. Last year’s competition was a little disappointing, with the eventual winner, Anthony Charteau not faring well in the big mountains.
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