Gallery
The Throw for the Line
The group of 20 some riders that got away never saw the rest of the peloton again. With several of the marquee sprinter's in the group, in fact only Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) was missing from the front of the race, it was going to shake out to be a very exciting sprint for the line. Mark Cavendish (Etixx Quickstep) was forced to go too early, so as he faded, Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) was able to get around the Manx Missile for the first road stage victory of the Tour. Greipel just held off the charging Peter Sagan (Tinkoff Saxo) with Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) grabbing the final podium spot. More importantly for Cancellara his third place finish earned him enough bonus seconds to put him into the Maillot Jaune. Greipel's win earned him the Maillot Vert, his first ever at the Tour de France.