Tour de France 2019: Dylan Groenewegen Wins Stage 7, Giulio Ciccone Retains Lead

Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to his first stage win of the 2019 Tour de France on Friday, winning Stage 7 ahead of his main rivals for the points classification. Giulio Ciccone remains the leader in the general classification.

Groenewegen―who crashed in the opening stage―was the fastest man in an expected bunch sprint, beating Caleb Ewan and Peter Sagan to the finish line.

Here are the results from Friday's stage:

After the fireworks on the flanks of La Planche des Belles Filles on Thursday, fans knew they were in for a far more dull affair on Friday. The longest stage of this year's Tour, at 230 kilometres, had all the makings of a typical transition stage ending in a bunch sprint.

Yoann Offredo and Stephane Rossetto opted for a lengthy adventure:

The two broke away from the pack almost immediately, with no other riders up for joining them. Most of the day was spent with the duo building a steady lead and the peloton gradually increasing the pace.

Despite the slow initial pace, Tejay van Garderen ran into some trouble and fell victim to a heavy crash that left his face bloodied:

He was able to continue, but his cadence was visibly affected. It's a bad sign with more than two weeks of racing still to come.

While little action was expected until the peloton caught up to the two leaders, strong crosswinds surprised the pack immediately after the final intermediate sprint.

Cracks started to appear in the peloton, and top riders like Dan Martin, Jack Haig, Simon Yates, Wout van Aert, Nairo Quintana and Van Garderen all found themselves outside of the lead group.

It all came back together before the leaders were caught, and with 15 kilometres left to go, the sprint trains started to form. 

Thibault Camus/Associated Press

Groenewegen had been the in-form sprinter entering the Tour, but he needed some time to fully recover from his crash in Stage 1.

He powered his way past the other top sprinters with ease on Friday before narrowly holding off Ewan, signaling he's ready to compete for the green jersey:

Saturday's Stage 8 appears ideally suited for the less-heralded riders hoping for an unlikely win. The hilly profile won't challenge the top contenders for the yellow jersey, who are expected to save their energy for the high mountains. Instead, the adventurous breakaway riders will have a golden opportunity to grab the stage and perhaps a short stint in yellow.

On Sunday, the stage will finish in Brioude, the home town of France's top overall contender Romain Bardet. Expect the French riders to do all they can to win on Bastille Day on a course that once again favours breakaways.