Tour de France: Steve Cummings upstages main contenders to take stage seven win as British success continues
Cummins pulled clear on the climb up the daunting Col d'Aspin
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Your support makes all the difference.Britain's Steve Cummings left his big-name rivals trailing as he stormed to victory in stage seven of the Tour de France in the Pyrennes on Friday.
Cummings burst clear prior to the ascent up the daunting Col d'Aspin and continued to extend his lead before easing over the finish line in Lac de Payolle.
It was the second stage win of the Tour de France for Cummings, who also claimed victory in stage 14 in July last year.
Daryl Impey out-sprinted Daniel Navarro to take second place, while Belgium's Greg Van Avermaet extended his overall race lead to six minutes and 36 seconds over Julian Alaphilippe after sprinting clear of the peloton.
But the race was marred by a bizarre incident when the inflatable banner marking one kilometre to go collapsed on top of a number of riders, leaving Team Orica's Adam Yates with a facial injury.
Cummings, a team-mate of Mark Cavendish who has already won two stages this year, said: "I'm ecstatic for the team - it's fantastic to race with Mark who is a such a legend and it was a brilliant day.
"I managed to give it everything to the top of the Aspin and I knew the race had really finished before I got to there.
"Success breeds success and Cav's a winner. There's a really good atmosphere in the team - we're all winners and we know that anyone in the team is capable of winning stages."
Cummings responded carefully when asked about British Cycling's decision not to include him in the men's road race team for next month's Rio Olympics.
He added: "If I was the coach I would (pick me), but I'm not the selector. They're the experts and they know what they're doing so I'll let them get on with it."
However it was quite a statement by Cummings, who set off solo to catch the lead group and went on to take the intermediate sprint as he forged into the lead.
The initial 10-rider chase group, including the likes of Van Avermaet and Vincenzo Nibali, soon dwindled to five as the pace set by Cummings, who crested the top of the Cote d'Aspin with a minute lead, began to bite.
Navarro briefly dropped Nibali and Impey as he continued to give chase while Van Avermaet settled for sticking ahead of the peloton, which was to be further hampered by the unusual events close to the finish line.
Leading final positions after Stage 7 (L'Isle-Jourdain - Lac de Payolle, 162 km):
1 Stephen Cummings (Gbr) Dimension Data 3hrs 51mins 58secs,
2 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-BikeExchange at 1mins 05secs,
3 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits at same time,
4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team at 2mins 14secs,
5 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team at 3mins 4secs,
6 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits at 4mins 29secs,
7 Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky,
8 Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky,
9 Gorka Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team,
10 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team,
11 Christopher Froome (Gbr) Team Sky,
12 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team,
13 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team,
14 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-Step,
15 Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx - Quick-Step,
16 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale,
17 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac,
18 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team,
19 Stef Clement (Ned) IAM Cycling,
20 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo all at same time
Selected Others:
73 Adam Yates (Gbr) Orica-BikeExchange at 8mins 7secs,
155 Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky 18mins 15secs,
178 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Dimension Data at 21mins 5secs,
188 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18,
190 Ian Stannard (Gbr) Team Sky,
191 Daniel Mclay (Gbr) Fortuneo - Vital Concept all at same time
General classification after stage 7:
1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 34hrs 13mins 40secs,
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-Step at 6mins 36secs,
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team at 6mins 38secs,
4 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha at 6mins 39secs,
5 Christopher Froome (Gbr) Team Sky at 6mins 42secs,
6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team,
7 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin,
8 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac,
9 Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx - Quick-Step,
10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team,
11 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team,
12 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo,
13 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale,
14 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo,
15 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky all at same time,
16 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Team Katusha at 6mins 51secs,
17 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team at 6mins 53secs,
18 Louis Meintjes (Rsa) Lampre - Merida,
19 Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ both at same time,
20 Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky at 7mins 22secs
Selected Others:
30 Adam Yates (Gbr) Orica-Bikeexchange at 10mins 20secs,
100 Stephen Cummins (Gbr) Team Dimension Data at 40mins 34secs,
140 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Team Dimension Data at 47mins 56secs
PA
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