This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/11/matteo-trentin-peter-sagan-tour-de-france-stage-seven

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Matteo Trentin edges out Peter Sagan in Tour de France stage seven Matteo Trentin edges out Peter Sagan in Tour de France stage seven
(35 minutes later)
The Italian Matteo Trentin won the seventh stage of the Tour de France on Friday, a 234.5km ride from Epernay to Nancy, as the top American contenders Tejay van Garderen and Andrew Talansky took tumbles. Matteo Trentin edged out Peter Sagan in a photo-finish to win the seventh stage of the Tour de France in Nancy on Friday.
Slovakia’s Peter Sagan was second and France’s Tony Gallopin finished third. Trentin’s compatriot Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey. The 234.5km route from Epernay was the second longest stage of this year’s race and lit up when the riders reached the day’s second and final categorised climb. The summit of the Côte de Boufflers came with 5.5km to go, with Sagan (Cannondale) prominent over the top, but the leaders regrouped in the finale and the Italian Trentin pipped Sagan by the narrowest of margins to claim Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s first win of the 101st Tour. The Belgian squad had to regroup following Mark Cavendish’s exit on day one and Trentin’s second Tour stage win will come as a welcome success.
Van Garderen, 11th in the race at the start, fell with about 15km to go and lost about a minute to the other favourites. Also involved in the crash was his Colombian BMC team-mate Darwin Atapuma, who later withdrew from the race. Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) was third as Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) retained the yellow jersey for another day by finishing 16th.
In the final straight Garmin-Sharp’s Talansky, ninth overall, fell before getting back on his bike. As the incident happened inside the final three kilometres, he was credited with the same time as the bunch. Saturday’s lumpy, 161km eighth stage from Tomblaine to Gérardmer La Mauselaine provides a further test for the peloton, with the possibility a breakaway will prosper.
The sprinters dropped out when the peloton reached Col de Maron, a short fourth-category climb 20km from the finish. A six-man breakaway formed after 9km, comprising Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling), Alexandre Pichot (Europcar), Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne-Séché Environnement), Matthew Busche (Trek Factory Racing), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) and Bartosz Huzarski (NetApp-Endura).
In the final kick, a 1.3km climb at an average gradient of 7.9%, Sagan and Greg Van Avermaet powered away from the pack before being caught. Sagan was then beaten by a tyre’s width by Trentin, who also won a Tour stage in Lyon last year. Sagan’s Cannondale squad led the peloton, keeping the escapees on a tight leash. FDJ, Movistar and Nibali’s Astana team shared responsibility as another rider abandoned, with Belkin’s Stef Clement crashing out after around 40km.
Danny van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) then quit with a knee problem, with Orica-GreenEdge’s Simon Yates, the 21-year-old from Bury, Lancashire, becoming the youngest rider remaining in the peloton.
The breakaway split with 40km remaining and Elmiger and Huzarski pressed on alone as the four others were caught. Their lead was less than 30 seconds with 25km to go as Team Sky led the peloton on the undulating terrain.
Huzarski and Elmiger were caught on the slopes of the Côte de Maron, the first of two classified climbs in the final 20km.
The teams were frantically fighting for position and there was a crash in the bunch which brought down Tejay van Garderen (BMC) among others. The American was unable to recover and finished more than a minute down.
The frenetic pace continued towards the foot of the second and final climb, the 1.3km, category four Côte de Boufflers.
Cannondale were again to the fore, working for Sagan, but Cyril Gautier (Europcar) was the first to initiate the attacks, with Tinkoff-Saxo’s Nicolas Roche following and his leader Alberto Contador on his wheel.
Nibali was tucked in behind Contador, but Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), one of the riders tipped for the stage, dropped out of contention.
Greg van Avermaet (BMC) crested the summit with Sagan on his wheel but it took time for the Slovakian to convince the Belgian to work with him on the descent.
A technical finish, with two right-angled turns in the final 2km proved difficult.
Richie Porte (Team Sky) led a group of around 40 through the flamme rouge at 1km to go, sweeping up Sagan and Van Avermaet, with a crash splitting the leading group.
The main protagonists – Nibali, Contador and Porte among them – were safe and contended for the sprint.
Garmin-Sharp’s Andrew Talansky tumbled in the closing 100m during the sprint, which Trentin won as Sagan missed out narrowly once more.
Sagan appears comfortable in the points classification’s green jersey but he is still chasing a fifth stage win of his career and a first of the 2014 Tour.
Sean Ingle’s Tour report from Nancy to followSean Ingle’s Tour report from Nancy to follow