Slovakia's Peter Sagan won Stage 7 of the Tour de France, retaining his green jersey while South Africa's Daryl Impey holds on to the overall lead for a second day in a row.
Sagan managed to hold off John Degenkolb of Germany and Italian Daniele Bennati, keeping him 94 points ahead of German Andre Greipel and over 100 points ahead of his nemesis Mark Cavendish, in the race for the green jersey, given to the rider with the Tour de France's points leader.
"I have to say my team did all the work today, they did an incredible job," said Sagan. "They showed that they are perfectly capable of doing their job and they did a remarkable job. I'd like to thank them."
Impey, for his part, holds on to the overall Tour de France lead, staying ahead of Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen, by three seconds, and Orica Greenedge teammate Simon Gerrans by five seconds.
Veteran American rider Christian Vande Velde, who had announced this was his last tour competition before retiring, pulled out of the race after getting caught up in yet another crash, early in the stage. A representative from Vande Velde's Garmin-Sharp team said the 37-year-old rider suffered "multiple contusions and abrasions" as a result of the wiping out. Vande Velde was already riding with severe back pain and a blood clot in his neck muscle as a result of the accumulation of injuries from two crashes in three days.
Impey is likely to lose the yellow jersey during Saturday's Stage 8, the first of two difficult uphill stages of climbing the Pyrenees. Stage 8 - stretching from Castres to Ax 3 Domaines - ascends up the Col de Pailheres, a nine mile upward stretch with a gradient of 8 percent while Sunday's Stage 9 runs up four consecutive category 1 climbs.
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