Australian sprinter Michael Matthews was third as Marcel Kittel won stage seven of the Tour de France in a photo finish.
Chris Froome retained the yellow jersey and remains 39 seconds clear of Matthews' countryman Richie Porte in fifth.
German Kittel (Quick-Step Floor) edged out Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Dimension Data) by the narrowest of margins on Friday after making a huge lunge to the line.
Boasson Hagen's effort was aided by Australian teammate Mark Renshaw, who guided the Norwegian to the front before Kittel unleashed the burst of power needed to take his third stage this year.
The controversial disqualification of Peter Sagan earlier in the week has blown the race for the sprinter's green jersey wide open but a stage win continues to elude Matthews.
"We had a plan that we just needed to stick together," the 26-year-old Canberran said.
"We've got a bit panicky in the last few days and started to lose each other at the end, today we stayed calm and did what we needed to do. It wasn't a win but for us it feels like a win.
Matthews was left wondering what might have been after the final sprint but paid tribute to Kittel, who recorded his 12th Tour stage win.
"I think if I'd started my sprint a little bit earlier second would have been possible but Kittel is just another level," Matthews said, adding that the disqualification of Sagan hadn't changed Team Sunweb's plan of attack.
"Nothing has changed, (we've just got to) stick to going for the stage wins and after that see what happens.
Team Sky's Froome crossed safely in the pack to retain his overall lead. The three-time champion is 12 seconds clear of teammate Geraint Thomas, with Astana's Fabio Aru third, 14 seconds down ahead of Daniel Martin and Porte.
Saturday's eighth stage is a 187.5km ride from Dole to Station des Rousses with three climbs in the second half, all ascending in difficulty.
"Tomorrow is a bit of an unknown to be honest," Porte told Cycling News.
"It's kind of a finish that we don't normally do in the Tour de France, a 12km climb and then a bit of a plateau to the finish so I'm not sure what's going to happen there so it should be interesting."
"This weekend is the first real big shake up. We have climb after climb on Sunday and I think it's going to be a hard weekend for everyone. You just have to see how it will be raced. There is a fair distance to the finish after the climb on Sunday so it could be a negative race."
Share
