It was the stage before the Roubaix stage and the peloton took it easy, riding through some stunning countryside in a hushed fashion before they got down to business in the last 10km. The bunch sprint materialised as expected, but there was no French win on Bastille Day (even though Fabien Grellier tried his best in a day-long break). Instead it was Dylan Groenewegen who kept his own counsel, headbutted no one and screamed past Andre Greipel and Fernando Gaviria (who were subsequently relegated to last place for said headbutting) to make it his second win in two days. GVA still in yellow, but Dan Martin lost over a minute (and a lot of skin) due to a nasty pile-up at the 15km mark. He’s gone in for x-rays after finishing the stage. Julian Alaphilippe was involved in the same crash and though he looked in better nick, he dropped out of the top 10. Tomorrow’s stage should see the standings as shaken as riders going over the cobbles …
