Tour de France 2018 stage seven LIVE: Dylan Groenewegen wins sprint ahead of Peter Sagan and Fernando Gaviria in Chartres
Stage seven is the longest day of this year’s Tour de France, a placid-looking 231km route from Fougeres in Brittany to Chartres, 100km south-west of Paris, via Mayenne which is setup for the sprinters.
There is every chance of a breakaway – the race was won in 2004 in by a break – but if the peloton reels in the escapees then all eyes will be on Peter Sagan and Fernando Gaviria as they resume their running battle.
Dylan Groenewegen wins stage seven on the line! He attacked around the outside and powered away from Gaviria by some distance in the end, with Sagan trailing in third.
The peloton is beginning to get strung out a little as the road narrows. Andre Greipel’s Lotto-Soudal move on to the right of the road, Fernando Gaviria’s Quick-Step Floors take charge of the left, Mark Cavendish’s Dimension Data on their shoulder, while the GC contenders like Team Sky, BMC and Movistar file in behind.
12km to go and the pace ups a little. This will be a fascinating bunch sprint. Peter Sagan and Fernando Gaviria are the favourites but there are a whole host of riders who could get involved here.
Laurent Pichon is the latest to make a solo break, and zips away a couple of minutes up the road. Most of the peloton won't mind that too much. Always enjoy these graphics:
There was a brief spell when a group slipped off the back of the peloton, Dan Martin amongst them, but they have returned to the main group meaning all 170 riders are as one.
Finally the Frenchman's bold solo break comes to an end, swallowed up by the peloton. The question now is whether another group think they can make something stick in the final 90km, or whether the bunch will roll as one all the way to a sprint in Chartres.
The peloton are slowly reeling in Offredo, who's valiant effort will earn him the combativity award but not a lot else. His advantage is down to around four minutes.
And the sprint teams have decided to put their foot down a little. They want to make sure their men are well-placed at the end of this race, unfortunately for our race leader Offredo, whose lead has been cut down to seven minutes.