British Rider Sprints To A Stage 7 Win In The Tour

As expected, the 190.5 kilometer stage 7 turned out to be another day for the sprinters. There was an early breakaway, and Daniel Teklehaimanot of Eritrea won the only category climb of the day -- adding another point to his Polka Dot jersey total. But the peloton slowly reeled in the breakaway riders, and by 10 kilometers from the finish had caught all of them. This set up a sprint to the finish, which was won by British rider Mark Cavendish. German Andre Greipel finished second and Slovakian Peter Sagan finished in third.

This stage was raced without a Yellow jersey rider, as race leader Tony Martin was unable to start because of the injury he received yesterday. After stage 7 was completed, Christopher Froome of Great Britain assumed the lead and is now wearing the Yellow jersey.

Stage 8 will probably not favor the sprinters. There are only two climbs -- a category 4 and a category 3, but the category 3 climb is at the very end of the 181.5 kilometer race, and that will make it very difficult for the sprinters (most of whom are not known for their climbing ability).

Here are the standings after stage 7:

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Leaders)
1. Christopher Froome, Great Britain (Team Sky)
2. Peter Sagan, Slovakia (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........11"
3. Tejay Van Garderen, United States (BMC Racing)..........13"
4. Tony Gallopin, France (Lotto-Soudal)..........26"
5. Greg Van Avermaet, Belgium (BMC Racing)..........28"
6. Rigiberto Uran Uran, Colombia (ETIXX-Quick Step)..........34"
7. Alberto Contador, Spain (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........36"
8. Zdenek Stybar, Czech Republic (ETIXX-Quick Step)..........52"
9. Geraint Thomas, Great Britain (Team Sky)..........1' 03"
10. Warren Barguil, France (Giant-Alpecin)..........1' 07"

GREEN JERSEY (Best Sprinter)
1. Andre Greipel, Germany (Lotto-Soudal)..........199 pts
2. Peter Sagan, Slovakia (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........187 pts
3. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain (ETIXX-Quick Step)..........151 pts
4. John Degenkolb, Germany (Giant-Alpecin)..........148 pts
5. Bryan Coquard, Francee (Europcar)..........96 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Best Climber)
1. Daniel Teklehaimanot, Eritrea (MTN-Qhubeka)..........4 pts
2. Joachim Rodriguez Oliver, Spain (Team Katusha)..........2 pts
3. Michael Schar, Switzerland (BMC Racing)..........1 pt
4. Rafal Majka, Poland (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........1 pt
5. Thomas De Gendt, Belgium (Lotto-Soudal)..........1 pt
6. Christopher Froome, Great Britain (Team Sky)..........1 pt

WHITE JERSEY (Best Young Rider)
1. Peter Sagan, Slovakia (Tinkoff-Saxo)
2. Warren Barguil, France (Giant-Alpecin)..........56"
3. Nairo Alenander Quintano Rojas, Columbia (Movistar)..........1' 45"

TEAM LEADERS
1. BMC Racing (United States)
2. ETIXX-Quick Step (Belgium)..........22"
3. Tinkoff-Saxo (Russia).........1' 44"
4. Team Sky (Great Britain)..........3' 38"
5. AG2R La Mondiale (France)..........5' 44"