Tour De France 2016: Results, Highlights and Standings After Saturday's Stage 14

Dimension Data's Mark Cavendish continued his incredible form in the 2016 Tour de France on Saturday, winning yet another bunch sprint.

The Manx Missile was involved in a minor controversy, as he seemed to interfere with Etixx-Quick-Step sprinter Marcel Kittel's sprint, and the judges will surely have a look at the replays.

Team Sky's Chris Froome still leads the general classification. Here's a look at the stage results, via the Inner Ring:

The latest standings, per Sky Sports Cycling:

Recap

Saturday's stage towards the bird park at Villars-les-Dombe was seen as a transition stage, with a largely flat profile after a hilly start. The main favourites were expected to stay quiet, as the sprint teams controlled the pace and hoped to give their top riders another chance at a stage win.

Peter Dejong/Associated Press

Four riders, including Cannondale-Drapac's Alex Howes and Martin Elmiger of IAM Cycling, made up the early break, but their lead never worried the peloton, and a bunch sprint seemed likely after 100 kilometres of racing.

Once again, strong winds had an effect early, as the bunch kept the speed relatively low in fear of even more crashes or gaps.

Per Eurosport's Laura Meseguer, Kittel warned the fans not to get too excited:

The Inner Ring also noticed the riders didn't seem too motivated to battle the wind:

Bora-Argon 18's Cesare Benedetti won the intermediate sprint, while Tinkoff's Peter Sagan took top honours in the peloton, adding to his lead in the points classification.

But as the riders increased the pace in order to catch the leaders, conditions became more dangerous. Cannondale's Matti Breschel crashed hard, and as shared by NBCSN cycling, it brought an end to his bid to make it to Paris:

According to Cycling News' Stephen Farrand, initial reports were positive, and Breschel's injuries did not appear as serious as the photo would suggest. Former professional cyclist Jonathan Vaughters provided further news: 

BMC took the lead in the bunch, and before long, they could see the four riders on the roads ahead of them. The team dropped the pace slightly to avoid catching the leaders too soon, but behind them, the sprint teams started getting ready.

The battle for position was crucial, especially with the wind howling, per Trek-Segafredo's official Twitter account:

Kittel started his sprint early but was passed by Cavendish, and the German seemed unhappy with the Manx Missile for his move. Replays showed Kittel nearly crashed, and both of the riders didn't cleanly take their lines.

A photo-finish was needed, handing the provisional win to Cavendish.

Sunday's ride toward Culoz features no less than six categorised climbs, but the final ascent lies 14 kilometres ahead of the finish line, and the GC riders are not expected to take too many chances.

It should be a spectacular stage that provides the more daring riders with the perfect opportunity to grab a stage win, but in all likelihood, it won't have a major effect on the battle for the yellow jersey.