Tour de France 2015: Results, Highlights and Standings After Friday's Stage 7

Mark Cavendish won his first stage of the 2015 Tour de France on Friday, the first real bunch sprint of this year's race. The Brit showed tremendous power in the final metres of Stage 7, passing green jersey Andre Greipel and Peter Sagan and finishing with a lead of almost a bike length.

As shared by Tom Cary of the Daily Telegraph, Cavendish has now won an incredible 26 Tour stages, which puts him third on the all-time list behind legends Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault. Chris Froome remains the leader in the general classification.

Here are the results from Friday's stage:

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx-Quick Step 4:27:25	4:27:25
2	Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Soudal	Same Time
3	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	Same Time
4	John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin	Same Time
5	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha	Same Time
6	Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr	Same Time
7	Tyler Farrar (USA) MTN-Qhubeka	Same Time
8	Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka	Same Time
9	Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida	Same Time
10	Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18	Same Time

Friday's stage had bunch sprint written all over it, and following a dramatic first week of racing, the peloton was looking forward to a simple, flat hop to Fougeres. But in keeping with this year's Tour, the stage started with some more drama, as Alberto Contador, one of the favourites for the yellow jersey, managed to hit the asphalt in the neutral zone.

Per NBC Sports―via Contador Notebook―he came away relatively unscathed, but it was yet another reminder there's no such thing as a safe stage.

Froome, who took the top spot in the general classification from Tony Martin after the latter was forced to abandon the race overnight, made an incredible gesture before the start of the race. Instead of starting in yellow, he decided to keep wearing his Team Sky outfit, and via bet365, he explained why:

The Belgian teams controlled the pace in the peloton as five riders were given an early lead, and Lotto-Soudal in particular spent most of the day at the front of the pack. Andre Greipel's green jersey was at stake, and he lost some of his lead in the point standings at the first intermediate sprint, where he was beaten by John Degenkolb and Sagan.

The Bike Lane's Matt Keenan has been impressed with Sagan's first week, noting he has done more than just sprint for the points:

As expected, Stage 7 passed without any major incidents, and while the early break fought bravely, they were caught with some 10 kilometres left to ride. The peloton pushed the tempo, and before long the sprint teams were forming their trains, positioning themselves for a fast and wild finish.

With five roundabouts littering the final kilometres, including one just before the finish line, there was the potential for chaos. The favourites for the yellow also positioned themselves near the front in order to avoid crashes, making for a crowded finish.

Incredibly, the pack remained upright, and Lotto-Soudal led the sprint for Greipel. The point-standings leader had Sagan beat, but Cavendish powered past the duo with an incredible jump, finally winning his first Tour stage of 2015.

Naturally, he was more than a little excited, and the Tour's official Twitter account shared his celebration:

After the race, Cavendish told reporters how badly he wanted to get this win, via Sky Sports' live blog of the race:

"

"I wanted it. I had this feeling. I was lying in the room with my wife and daughter and I told them 'I have this feeling'. I was relaxed. The team was motivated and when Michal Golas was pulling the gap was coming down. After the near misses, for them to keep the faith was incredible. After what happened to Tony Martin, we wanted this."

"

Here's a look at the current standings:

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	26:40:51
2	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	0:00:11
3	Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:00:13
4	Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal	0:00:26
5	Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team	0:00:28
6	Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx-Quick Step	0:00:34
7	Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	0:00:36
8	Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx-Quick Step	0:00:52
9	Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky	0:01:03
10	Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin	0:01:07

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal	199
2	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	187
3	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx - Quick-Step	151
4	John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin	148
5	Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar	96
6	Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step	63
7	Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team	58
8	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha	50
9	Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar	46
10	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN - Qhubeka	45

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN - Qhubeka	4
2	Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha	2
3	Michael Schar (Swi) BMC Racing Team	1
4	Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo	1
5	Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal	1
6	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	1

Saturday's stage toward Mur-de-Bretagne will be the last Classics-inspired stage and should present another opportunity for the "puncheurs," or riders, hoping to finish off an early break. The final climb isn't as steep as the Mur de Huy but significantly longer, so expect the favourites for the yellow to make a cameo as well.

Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali in particular have some catching up to do in the standings ahead of Sunday's team time trial, so they may feel inclined to place an attack during the final climb. 

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