Roubaix - John Degenkolb won the Arras-Roubaix ninth stage of the Tour de France on Sunday ahead of Greg Van Avermaet as dozens of falls and multiple withdrawals made for a slapstick spectacle amidst clouds of dust.

The win marks a return to form for the German, a former winner of Paris-Roubaix, who was knocked down by a car in Mallorca two years ago.

Van Avermaet kept hold of the overall leader's yellow jersey on a day when his team captain Richie Porte withdrew after a fall and the main contenders all finished more or less together.

The lead trio broke with 15km to go and quickly agreed to cooperate taking turns at the head of the group to distance the peloton.

Degenkolb was always the more likely of the trio to win the stage due to his sprinting skills while the Belgian Van Avermaet was keen to take his yellow jersey into the mountains next week.

The 155km stage featuring 22km of rough cobbled sections was expected to produce drama, and so it proved.

Romain Bardet got a third flat tyre of the day and lost touch with the peloton with just 5km remaining as he exited the final section of cobbles.

Chris Froome attacked at that moment and there will be increased bad will on the French roadsides for the British champion, who has been booed by sections of the public on this Tour.

Miraculously Bardet made it back to the Froome group shortly before the finish line after a huge effort that saw the French hope gasping for breath.

Questions will be asked about the leadership issue at Sky after Geraint Thomas abandoned Froome when a mechanical failure saw the four-time winner crash late on.

Thomas started the day a minute ahead of his nominative captain Froome, who eventually struggled back to the lead pack on his own.

On a mixed day for Spain's Movistar team Alejandro Valverde gained a little time on his GC rivals, Nairo Quintana finished with the main group and Mikel Landa made a horrible error, falling off when reaching for a water bottle, losing time.

Amazingly Dan Martin, who woke up feeling "much, much better" after his crash on Saturday, kept pace as did Tom Dumoulin.

The 155km stage featuring 22km of rough cobbled sections was expected to claim victims and thr first one had nothing to do with cobbles as Porte fell and looked to have broken his shoulder, leaving the race in tears after 10km.

Winner in a spectacular style of the past two stages Dutch ace Dylan Groenewegen fell half way through the stage, but was just one of dozens of riders to hit the floor.

Standings from the 9th stage of Tour de France, a 156.5km ride from Arras to Roubaix on Sunday:

1. John Degenkolb (GER/TRE) 156.5 km in 3hr 24min 26sec

2. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) at 0.

3. Yves Lampaert (BEL/QST) 0.

4. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/QST) 19.

5. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR) 19.

6. Jasper Stuyven (BEL/TRE) 19.

7. Bob Jungels (LUX/QST) 19.

8. André Greipel (GER/LOT) 27.

9. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/DDT) 27.

10. Timothy Dupont (BEL/WGG) 27.

11. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/EAU) 27.

12. Nils Politt (GER/KAT) 27.

13. Fernando Gaviria (COL/QST) 27.

14. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/DEN) 27.

15. Warren Barguil (FRA/FST) 27.

16. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 27.

17. Lilian Calmejane (FRA/DEN) 27.

18. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 27.

19. Tom Dumoulin (NED/SUN) 27.

20. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/LNL) 27.

21. Bauke Mollema (NED/TRE) 27.

22. Christopher Froome (GBR/SKY) 27.

23. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/BAH) 27.

24. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 27.

25. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA/BAH) 27.

26. Primož Roglic (SLO/LNL) 27.

27. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) 27.

28. Tanel Kangert (EST/AST) 27.

29. Ilnur Zakarin (RUS/KAT) 27.

30. Rafal Majka (POL/BOR) 27.

31. Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (DEN/AST) 27.

32. Daniel Martin (IRL/EAU) 27.

33. Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN/SUN) 27.

34. Matthew Hayman (AUS/MIT) 27.

35. Mikel Landa (ESP/MOV) 34.

36. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 34.

37. Tim Declercq (BEL/QST) 34.

38. Julien Vermote (BEL/DDT) 36.

39. Marcel Sieberg (GER/LOT) 38.

40. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/LOT) 38.

41. Serge Pauwels (BEL/DDT) 38.

42. Robert Gesink (NED/LNL) 38.

43. Daryl Impey (RSA/MIT) 38.

44. Arnaud Démare (FRA/FDJ) 42.

45. Edward Theuns (BEL/SUN) 42.

46. Marcus Burghardt (GER/BOR) 42.

47. Julien Bernard (FRA/TRE) 42.

48. Damien Gaudin (FRA/DEN) 47.

49. Oliver Naesen (BEL/ALM) 48.

50. Toms Skujinš (LAT/TRE) 55.

51. Pavel Kochetkov (RUS/KAT) 1:02.

52. Mark Cavendish (GBR/DDT) 1:12.

53. Oliviero Troia (ITA/EAU) 1:12.

54. Imanol Erviti (ESP/MOV) 1:23.

55. Audrey Amador (CRC/MOV) 1:23.

56. Simon Geschke (GER/SUN) 1:30.

57. Kristijan Durasek (CRO/EAU) 1:50.

58. Taylor Phinney (USA/EFD) 1:55.

59. Rigoberto Uran (COL/EFD) 1:55.

60. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EFD) 1:55.

61. Thomas Boudat (FRA/DEN) 1:55.

62. Tony Gallopin (FRA/ALM) 1:55.

63. Chad Haga (USA/SUN) 1:55.

64. Franco Pellizotti (ITA/BAH) 1:55.

65. Maxime Bouet (FRA/FST) 1:55.

66. Amaël Moinard (FRA/FST) 1:55.

67. Nicolas Edet (FRA/COF) 1:55.

68. Mikel Nieve (ESP/MIT) 1:55.

69. Ramon Sinkeldam (NED/FDJ) 1:55.

70. Stefan Kung (SUI/BMC) 1:55.

71. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA/DDT) 1:55.

72. Luke Durbridge (AUS/MIT) 2:12.

73. Roberto Ferrari (ITA/EAU) 2:26.

74. Tom Scully (NZL/EFD) 3:23.

75. Omar Fraile (ESP/AST) 4:15.

76. Dmitriy Gruzdev (KAZ/AST) 4:15.

77. Michael Hepburn (AUS/MIT) 4:15.

78. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BMC) 5:11.

79. Heinrich Haussler (AUS/BAH) 5:11.

80. Sep Vanmarcke (BEL/EFD) 5:42.

81. Silvan Dillier (SUI/ALM) 5:47.

82. Pierre-Roger Latour (FRA/ALM) 5:47.

83. Michael Schär (SUI/BMC) 5:47.

84. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL/WGG) 5:47.

85. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC) 5:47.

86. Guillaume Martin (FRA/WGG) 5:47.

87. Koen de Kort (NED/TRE) 5:47.

88. Michael Gogl (AUT/TRE) 5:47.

89. Jon Izagirre (ESP/BAH) 5:47.

90. Rory Sutherland (AUS/EAU) 5:52.

91. Christophe Laporte (FRA/COF) 5:57.

92. Tom Slagter (NED/DDT) 6:01.

93. Thomas De Gendt (BEL/LOT) 6:01.

94. Rick Zabel (GER/KAT) 6:01.

95. Magnus Nielsen (DEN/AST) 6:03.

96. Michael Andersen (DEN/AST) 6:17.

97. Kristjan Koren (SLO/BAH) 7:57.

98. Pawel Poljanski (POL/BOR) 9:31.

99. Jérôme Cousin (FRA/DEN) 10:18.

100. Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE/FDJ) 10:26.

101. Florian Vachon (FRA/FST) 10:26.

102. Daniele Bennati (ITA/MOV) 10:26.

103. Marco Minnaard (NED/WGG) 11:03.

104. Olivier Le Gac (FRA/FDJ) 12:24.

105. Luke Rowe (GBR/SKY) 12:24.

106. Simon Clarke (AUS/EFD) 12:24.

107. Maximiliano Richeze (ARG/QST) 12:24.

108. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/QST) 12:24.

109. Marc Soler (ESP/MOV) 12:24.

110. Laurens ten Dam (NED/SUN) 16:04.

111. Niki Terpstra (NED/QST) 16:04.

112. David Gaudu (FRA/FDJ) 16:04.

113. Yoann Offredo (FRA/WGG) 16:04.

114. Rudy Molard (FRA/FDJ) 16:04.

115. Romain Sicard (FRA/DEN) 16:04.

116. Jack Bauer (NZL/MIT) 16:04.

117. Lukas Pöstlberger (AUT/BOR) 16:04.

118. Gregor Mühlberger (AUT/BOR) 16:04.

119. Nikias Arndt (GER/SUN) 16:04.

120. Jasper De Buyst (BEL/LOT) 16:04.

121. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP/SKY) 16:04.

122. Tomasz Marczynski (POL/LOT) 16:04.

123. Daniel Oss (ITA/BOR) 16:09.

124. Marcel Kittel (GER/KAT) 16:09.

125. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/BAH) 16:09.

126. Patrick Bevin (NZL/BMC) 16:09.

127. Andrea Pasqualon (ITA/WGG) 16:09.

128. Sonny Colbrelli (ITA/BAH) 16:09.

129. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/FDJ) 16:09.

130. Thomas Degand (BEL/WGG) 16:09.

131. Julien Simon (FRA/COF) 16:09.

132. Laurent Pichon (FRA/FST) 16:09.

133. Romain Hardy (FRA/FST) 16:09.

134. Wout Poels (NED/SKY) 16:09.

135. Daniel Navarro (ESP/COF) 16:09.

136. Egan Bernal (COL/SKY) 16:09.

137. Marco Marcato (ITA/EAU) 16:09.

138. Elie Gesbert (FRA/FST) 16:09.

139. Jay Thomson (RSA/DDT) 16:09.

140. Mathias Frank (SUI/ALM) 16:09.

141. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/SKY) 16:09.

142. Jens Keukeleire (BEL/LOT) 16:09.

143. Maciej Bodnar (POL/BOR) 16:09.

144. Fabien Grellier (FRA/DEN) 16:09.

145. Simon Gerrans (AUS/BMC) 16:09.

146. Mark Renshaw (AUS/DDT) 16:09.

147. Kévin Ledanois (FRA/FST) 16:09.

148. Jesper Hansen (DEN/AST) 16:09.

149. Ian Boswell (USA/KAT) 16:09.

150. Daniel Martínez (COL/EFD) 16:09.

151. Darwin Atapuma (COL/EAU) 16:09.

152. José Herrada Lopez (ESP/COF) 16:09.

153. Anthony Perez (FRA/COF) 16:09.

154. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 16:09.

155. Rein Taaramae (EST/DEN) 16:09.

156. Dion Smith (NZL/WGG) 16:09.

157. Lawson Craddock (USA/EFD) 16:09.

158. Antwan Tolhoek (NED/LNL) 16:09.

159. Dylan Groenewegen (NED/LNL) 16:09.

160. Paul Martens (GER/LNL) 16:09.

161. Timo Roosen (NED/LNL) 16:09.

162. Amund Grondahl Jansen (NOR/LNL) 16:09.

163. Gianni Moscon (ITA/SKY) 16:23.

164. Alexis Vuillermoz (FRA/ALM) 16:28.

165. Damien Howson (AUS/MIT) 19:51.

166. Anthony Turgis (FRA/COF) 19:51.

167. Dimitri Claeys (BEL/COF) 19:51.

168. José Joaquin Rojas (ESP/MOV) Retired

169. Richie Porte (AUS/BMC) Retired

170. Tony Martin (GER/KAT) Withdrawn