George Bennett's Jumbo-Visma teammate Wout van Aert has won stage seven of the Tour de France in a sprint finish, as Britain's Adam Yates retained the leader's yellow jersey.
Saturday's (NZ time) 168-km ride from Millau to Lavaur was dominated by Belgian van Aert, who won his second Tour stage this year, with Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen and Frenchman Bryan Coquard finishing close behind.
Kiwi Bennett crossed the line in 36th and is in the same position in the geral classification, more than 10 minutes behind Yates, who is teammates with New Zealanders Jack Bauer and Sam Bewley.
Briton Yates now leads Primoz Roglic by three seconds and France's Guillaume Martin by nine.
"We were expecting an easy day today but Bora had other ideas. We rode full gas from start to finish, it was a hard day for everybody," says Yates.
"I wasn't too anxious really, just a few moments where you had to be in position because of the wind. It was not too crazy but enough to split the bunch, so you had to be in position."
Sunday's eighth stage is a 141-km mountain trek in the Pyrenees, featuring the ascents of the Col de Mente, the Port de Bales and the Col de Peyresourde.
Reuters
