Steve Cummings wins Tour de France stage seven

Steve Cummings broke clear to seal a fine solo stage seven victory at the Tour de France on Friday, before a large inflatable caused havoc for the peloton.

After the excitement of the opening sprint stages, it was time to take on the mountains as the 162.5-kilometre trek from L'Isle-Jourdain to Lac de Payolle – which included the first category one climb of the Tour up the Col d'Aspin – kicked off three days in the Pyrenees.

And it was Dimension Data rider Cummings, whose reputation continues to grow following a stage win at the Criterium du Dauphine last month, that made a break for home with under 30km remaining to seal a second career stage win at the Tour.

It appeared as though the Briton would be challenged by 2014 Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), but the Italian faded and Cummings had a clear run to the line to seal his team's fourth stage triumph, following on from the successes of Mark Cavendish.

Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing) was rewarded for a brave ride by crossing the line fifth to retain the yellow jersey, with a lead of six minutes 36 seconds over nearest challenger Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick Step), while favourites Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) are a further six seconds adrift.

After a sizeable early breakaway, including Van Avermaet (BMC Racing), the led group fragmented, with Cummings, Daniel Navarro (Cofidis), Matti Breschel (Cannondale), Antoine Duchesne (Direct Energie) making a move.

Cummings went for broke with around 26km remaining as Navarro failed to keep pace, while 2014 Tour champion initially Nibali led the assault from the chasing group.

However, Nibali faded badly and could not respond to an attack from Daryl Impey (Orica-BikeExchange) and Navarro, leaving him fourth.

Cummings crossed the line unopposed, but there was still more drama to come as an inflatable collapsed just as the general classification riders were approaching the final kilometre.

Following the disruption, Van Avermaet came home three minutes and five seconds down on Cummings, while defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) were over four minutes back.