Wout Van Aert picked up a second win of the 2020 Tour de France on Friday as skulduggery and crosswinds combined to produce an enthralling race that claimed several victims.
British rider Adam Yates retained the yellow jersey while Peter Sagan took the green points jersey after his Bora team led a carefully plotted and brilliantly executed attack to drop his sprint rivals.
From 150km out, Bora launched an unexpected assault, cranking up the pace with attacks which succeeded in exploiting the crosswinds, splitting the pack and shedding Sagan's rivals in the points classification, Irishman Sam Bennett who started the day in green, and Australian Caleb Ewan.
Among the other victims was young Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, who started the day in third overall and was left behind late on due to a puncture with the peloton hitting speeds of 70 km/h in a crosswind.
Jumbo's Belgian all-rounder Van Aert also won stage five and on Friday outsprinted a small leading group.
"All the sprinters were dropped already and afterwards it was totally hectic," said the Jumbo rider at the finish line.
"It was a good day for the team as some favourites from the GC lost time too," said Van Aert, whose team leader Primoz Roglic is the favourite to win the Tour.
"I got a slipstream, found a gap and timed my sprint perfectly," said Van Aert. "But this is more of a surprise than the last win."
The stage embarked within sight of the 336m-high Millau viaduct that reaches across the Tarn Gorge, where winds also hit the Tour in 2019.
Results from stage seven of the Tour de France, a 168km run from Millau to Lavaur on Friday:
1. Wout Van Aert (BEL/JUM) 3hr 32min 03sec, 2. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/DDT) same time, 3. Bryan Coquard (FRA/VCC) s.t., 4. Christophe Laporte (FRA/COF) s.t., 5. Jasper Stuyven (BEL/TRE) s.t., 6. Clement Venturini (FRA/ALM) s.t., 7. Hugo Hofstetter (FRA/ICA) s.t., 8. Egan Bernal (COL/INE)s.t., 9. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) s.t., 10. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) s.t., 11. Hugo Houle (CAN/AST) s.t., 12. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/DEC) s.t., 13. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR) s.t., 14. Warren Barguil (FRA/ARK) s.t., 15. Mikael Cherel (FRA/ALM) s.t., 16. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) s.t., 17. Sergio Higuita (COL/EF1) s.t., 18. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ) s.t., 19. Emanuel Buchmann (GER/BOR) s.t., 20. Guillaume Martin (FRA/COF) s.t.
Overall standings after stage 7 of the Tour de France from Millau to Lavaur on Friday:
1. Adam Yates (GBR/Mitchelton) 30hrs 36mins 0sec, 2. Primoz Roglic (SLO/JUM) at 3 sec, 3. Guillaume Martin (FRA/COF) 9, 4. Egan Bernal (COL/INE) 13, 5. Tom Dumoulin (NED/JUM) 13, 6. Nairo Quintana (COL/ARK) 13, 7. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 13, 8. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL/AST) 13, 9. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ) 13, 10. Rigoberto Uran (COL/EF1) 13, 11. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/DEC) 15, 12. Emanuel Buchmann (GER/BOR) 22, 13. Enric Mas (ESP/MOV) 22, 14. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 34, 15. Sergio Higuita (COL/EF1) 41, 16. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE) 1:28, 17. Esteban Chaves (COL/MIT) 1:34, 18. Bauke Mollema (NED/TRE) 1:34, 19. Mikel Landa (ESP/BAH) 1:34, 20. Richie Porte (AUS/TRE) 1:34, 21. Richard Carapaz (ECU/INE) 2:02, 22. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BAH) 2:02, 23. Pierre Rolland (FRA/VCC) 2:31, 24. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ/AST) 2:39, 25. Marc Soler (ESP/MOV) 2:40
Green points jersey:
1. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR) 138 pts, 2. Sam Bennett (IRL/DEC) 129, 3. Wout van Aert (BEL/JUM) 106, 4. Bryan Coquard (FRA/VCC) 105, 5. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/UAE) 93, 6. Matteo Trentin (ITA/CCC) 91, 7. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/DEC) 82, 8. Caleb Ewan (AUS/LOT) 75, 9. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/CCC) 64, 10. Cees Bol (NED/SUN) 62
Polka-dot king of the mountains:
1. Benoit Cosnefroy (FRA/ALM) 25 pts, 2. Michael Gogl (AUT/DDT) 12, 3. Nicolas Roche (IRL/SUN) 11, 4. Primoz Roglic (SLO/JUM) 10, 5. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ/AST) 10, 6. Jesus Herrada (ESP/COF) 9, 7. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE) 8, 8. Quentin Pacher (FRA/VCC) 7, 9. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/CCC) 7, 10. Guillaume Martin (FRA/COF) 6
Under-25 white jersey:
1. Egan Bernal (COL/INE) 30hrs 36min 13sec, 2. Enric Mas (ESP/MOV) at 9 sec, 3. Sergio Higuita (COL/EF1) 28, 4. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE) 1:15, 5. Daniel Martinez (COL/EF1) 18:44