Stage 7 from Epernay to Nancy was the longest the peloton have had to endure so far and was labelled a “transition stage” where the race made its way towards the mountains in the Alps. However, today’s stage was anything but a 234km soft-pedal.
The Tour has now completed its first week of racing and there have been 13 riders who have abandoned so far: Mathias Frank (IAM), Stef Clement (Belkin), Danny van Poppel (Trek), Darwin Atapuma (BMC), Xabier Zandio (Sky), Maximiliano Richeze (Lampre-Merida), Jesus Hernandez (Tinkoff-Saxo), Egor Silin (Katusha), Chris Froome (Sky), Andy Schleck (Trek), Mark Cavendish (OPQS), Greg Henderson (Lotto-Belisol), Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida)
If you think that’s a large number of riders who have headed home in the first week compared to other editions, you’re right. Since 2005 this edition of the Tour de France is the second most number of abandoned riders after first week (thanks to ProCyclingStats)
2014: 13
2013: 10
2012: 17
2011: 11
2010: 11
2009: 9
2008: 11
2007: 9
2006: 9
2005: 9
Today was another stage full of crashes, most notably Andrew Talansky going down in the final sprint after running into Simon Gerrans. In the end it was Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) who sprinted to victory ahead of a reduced peloton into Nancy. The result was decided in a photo finish with Trentin pipping Peter Sagan (Cannondale) to the line by only a centimetre.
Click here for the full stage report and results from stage 7 of the 2014 Tour de France.
Enjoy the photos from stage 7 courtesy of Brake Through Media (follow on Instagram and Twitter) and Cor Vos.
- Slovakian fans out supporting Peter Sagan who holds the Points Classification and the Young Rider Classification by a comfortable margin.
- #Believe - the new Shimano campaign. Check it out here: http://www.weraceshimano.com/believe
- It wasn’t until 14km into the stage that the day’s main breakaway got itself settled. The group featured all of the race’s wildcard teams and a total of six riders who gained a maximum of 4 minutes on the peloton: Alexandre Pichot (Europcar), Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne-Seche), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Bartosz Huzarski (NetApp-Endura), Martin Elmiger (IAM) and Matthew Busche (Trek Factory Racing).
- The peloton rides through the battlefields and cemetaries of World Ward I.
- Stef Clement (Belkin) was another casualty today and had to pull out of the race after injuring his elbow.
- Thomas Voeckler throws caution into the wind on the final climb of the day (fourth category Cote de Maron) but it was short-lived as Orica-GreenEdge pulled him back.
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- Andrew Talansky tries to move out of the way of the sprinters and is knocked down.
- Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) beats Peter Sagan (Cannondale) to the line by only a centimeter.
- In seven stages so far Sagan’s placings have been: 2,4,2,4,4,5,2. That consistency sees Sagan leading the points classification by a comfortable margin, in addition to his lead in the best young rider classification.
- Matteo Trentin is congratulated by teammate Michal Kwiatkowski.
- Andrew Talansky walks to get his bike after his crash.
