Andre Greipel snatched back-to-back stage victories in the Tour de France when he dominated a final bunch sprint in the fifth leg on Thursday.
Swiss Fabian Cancellara kept his overall seven-second lead over Briton Bradley Wiggins and France’s Sylvain Chavanel. German strongman Greipel, winner a day earlier in Rouen, beat Australia’s Matthew Goss and Argentina’s Juan Jose Haedo in a spectacular finish.
Briton Mark Cavendish, hurt in a crash in stage four, had to be content with fifth place.
A pile-up split the peloton in an otherwise uneventful stage when American Tyler Farrar tumbled on to the tarmac with around three kilometres to go.
Green jersey holder Peter Sagan of Slovakia was also involved in the incident but retained top spot in the points classification.
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