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Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) struck again on stage five of the Tour de France to take a second stage win into Saint-Quentin.
The powerful German came out on top in a dramatic finish, fending off rivals Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) on an uphill ramp to the line.
Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) bounced back strongly from a hard crash on Wednesday, sprinting from deep in the pack to claim fifth on the line after the day's breakaway had gone deep into the final kilometre.
A crash inside the final kilometres caught out a number of contenders for the sprint including green jersey-holder Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale).
Team Sky had occupied a position at the front of the peloton to ensure the safety of Bradley Wiggins and managed to avoid the pile-up, as did race leader Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) who maintained his seven-second lead.
Sprint duel
With a 196.5-kilometre route on the menu Cavendish and Team Sky team-mate Bernhard Eisel rolled out of Rouen heavily bandaged up after hitting the ground less than 24 hours earlier.
Up ahead it didn't take long for a break to venture clear, four riders pushing onwards inside the opening kilometre and going on to build up an advantage of 5:40 on the road.
The peloton took it easy as they passed through changeable conditions, Lotto-Belisol and Orica-GreenEDGE helping out with pace-setting duties alongside RadioShack-Nissan.
Attention eventually turned to the intermediate sprint as Team Sky and Cavendish moved to the fore, the Manxman latching onto a lead-out from Eisel and Edvald Boasson Hagen to take the maximum 11 points remaining.
Green jersey rival Sagan finished just three places back to maintain his lead in the competition, the Slovakian ending the day just 18 points ahead of Goss, his advantage somewhat diminished following his crash.
Team Sky moved up inside the final 30 kilometres before taking control of the bunch for the first time in the race and the tactic proved to be the correct one as riders went down behind.
The lead quartet continued gamely out front, heading deep into the closing stages before being reeled in almost in sight of the line.
Stage result:
1. Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 4h 41' 30"
2. Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) +0"
3. Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +0"
4. Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) +0"
5. Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) +0"
Overall standings:
1 - Fabian Cancellara - SUI - RadioShack - 24h 45' 32''
2 - Bradley Wiggins - GBR - Team Sky - +7''
3 - Sylvain Chavanel - FRA - Omega Pharma - Quick-Step - +7''
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