In his first ever Tour de France, Peter Sagan has won a third stage, claiming victory in a crash-ridden sixth leg.
It was a sweet change of fortune for the Slovakian rider who was involved in a fifth stage crash only three kilometres from the finish line.
Sagan edged out Germany's Andre Greipel and Australian rider Matthew Goss.
A large group of riders were halted by a serious crash 26 kilometres from the finish line.
Three riders are now out of the Tour indefinitely while several more riders have little hope of getting back into winning contention before the start of the first mountain stage.
Swiss rider Fabian Cancellera holds onto the leader's yellow jersey by seven seconds from Briton Bradley Wiggins with Australia's defending champion Cadel Evans 17 seconds behind in sixth.
