Stephen Cummings escapes collapsing arch to win Tour de France seventh stage
Inflatable arch marking 1km to go falls to slow the bunch and sends Briton Adam Yates crashing
Briton Stephen Cummings powered away on the Col d’Aspin to claim a second career Tour de France stage win as overall race contender Thibaut Pinot cracked in a seventh stage that ended in chaos on Friday.
As Team Dimension Data rider Cummings celebrated his stunning solo win, back down the road the inflatable arch marking 1km to go deflated and slowed down the bunch, even sending fellow Briton Adam Yates crashing.
Organisers said they would probably take into account the times at the 3km mark.
Belgian Greg Van Avermaet retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey.
Cummings, who last year won in Mende, jumped away from the day’s breakaway and held off 2014 Tour champion Vincenzo Nibali on the Col d’Aspin, the first big climb this year, before descending safely to the Lac de Payolle to give his African-based team their fourth stage win this year.
Mark Cavendish had already won three sprints and Cummings showed again that Dimension Data could also play a role in the mountains as the Tour entered the Pyrenees.