Cav, King of Châteauroux

Mark Cavendish proved once again that he was the sprint king by fighting off Andre Greipel and Alessandro Petacchi to secure his second stage win at Châteauroux and his 17th overall in the Tour.

It was a very flat stage today and the first real opportunity for the teams to build up their lead-out trains to put their sprinters in pole position for a stage victory. But what should have been a regulation day in the saddle for most of the teams could turn out to be one of the most significant stages outside the mountains.

The Peloton was glad to see the back of the rain that captured Stage 6. However that didn't stop the constant crashes within the Peloton so far in the race. The first disappointment was the withdrawal of Tom Boonen after suffering several crashes in the first week of the Tour.

Bad news didn't stop with Boonen. Team Sky lead rider Bradley Wiggins was caught right in the middle of a big crash in the Peloton with 39km to go. It appears that he had broken his collar bone which is an absolute nightmare for Wiggins who seemed in perfect shape and in sensational form after winning the Critérium du Dauphiné. A major blow for Team Sky, British Cycling and most of all Le Tour itself.

But all that put to one side, HTC were not going to be stopped as they formed the perfect lead-out train for Mark Cavendish. Eisel from Martin from Goss from Renshaw from Cavendish. An intimidating train to the rest of the sprinters as the Manx-man stormed to his second victory of this year's tour.