Image 1 of 4 Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 2 of 4 Andre Greipel in the bunch during stage 7 at the Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images) Image 3 of 4 Fernando Gaviria was relegated in the sprint (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 4 of 4 Dylan Groenewegen celebrates his win (Image credit: Bettini Photo) The third savage Tour de France stage in the Alps proved too much for some top sprinters: one day after Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel finished outside the time limit on La Rosière, Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal), and double stage winners Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo) and Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) abandoned the race having fallen too far behind to reasonably make the cut. Stage 11 to Alpe d'Huez was another hot, hard day in the mountains, with the massive 25.3km ascent to the Col de la Madeleine cresting just 53km into the stage. Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale) was the first to abandon, having fallen behind early in the stage. Groenewegen was the next, giving in before the second climb. Greipel and Gaviria, who tussled in stage 8's sprint to Amiens and were both relegated, chased behind the gruppetto up the Col de la Croix de Fer but fell further behind. Greipel, along with teammate Marcel Sieberg, then climbed off as both riders knew they would be unable to make the time limit. Gaviria, with his teammate Max Richeze, continued for a few more kilometres before climbing into the team car. Green jersey holder Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) are the top sprinters left in the race. Last year, Demare was among the sprinters eliminated on stage 9 of the Tour de France after they missed the time limit.<doc-sep>Fernando Gaviria (right) had to kick twice to deny Andre Greipel (centre) and Peter Sagan (left) Colombia's Fernando Gaviria held off Peter Sagan and Andre Greipel in a thrilling sprint finish to win stage four of the Tour de France in Sarzeau. The Quick-Step Floors rider, who also won the Tour's first stage, had to kick twice to deny Greipel after the German edged in front close to the line. Sagan nipped in for second as Greipel faded after the peloton finally caught a four-man breakaway with 1km to go. BMC Racing's Greg van Avermaet retained the leader's yellow jersey. The Belgian, who took the overall lead on Monday, avoided a crash that split the peloton with 5km to go. His team-mate Tejay van Garderen is second in the general classification, with Team Sky's Geraint Thomas three seconds back in third. Four-time winner Chris Froome finished safely in the bunch to remain 52 seconds further adrift, although he moved up one position to 17th, one place ahead of fellow Briton Adam Yates, after Katusha-Alpecin's Ilnur Zakarin was caught behind the late crash. "It was another stressful day and another big crash which only adds to the stress," Thomas told BBC Radio 5 live. "It was nice to get through unscathed. I felt pretty good but we will get more of a sense on Wednesday where we will get the first solid day." Mark Cavendish was caught out of position in the final stages and unable to contest the sprint. Gav the new Cav? Gaviria continues to make one of the most assured Tour debuts by a sprinter - he has won two of four stages, including taking the first yellow jersey of the race. After a period in which Grand Tour sprints were dominated by Cavendish, Greipel and latterly Marcel Kittel, the 23-year-old's performances so far suggest he is capable of supremacy. This was more impressive than his opening stage win, taking the sprint out but still finding the power to kick again as Greipel threatened to blitz past. With Gaviria also benefiting from the strength of his Quick-Step team, his early success here is reminiscent of how Cavendish, then also 23, announced himself with four stage wins at the 2008 Tour. And with potentially five more sprint finishes to come, the other sprinters in the race face a daunting task to deny Gaviria more glory. And what about Cav? In contrast to Gaviria, Cavendish has looked short of form and confidence as he tries to add to his 30 stage wins in pursuit of Eddy Merckx's record of 34. The Briton did not feature on the opening two stages, when he or his Dimension Data team-mates got caught up in late crashes, but still could not contend despite avoiding the chaos here. With the four-man breakaway - Dimitri Claeys, Anthony Perez, Guillaume van Keirsbulck and Jerome Cousin - threatening to outwit the peloton, Cavendish's team took responsibility on the front to make the catch and lead the race on the left of a long drag to the finish. But Cavendish soon found himself swamped and without a team-mate to follow as the race splintered in the final 500m, outflanked on the left by Quick-Step's lead-out train and then ultimately cut off by Dylan Groenewegen. Cavendish threw his hand up in protest at the Dutchman, but the leading trio had already surged well clear. "I was pushed off [lead-out man] Mark Renshaw's wheel and, in that block headwind, once you're not on a wheel you have to put in double the watts," Cavendish told ITV4. "I thought the left side would be close but then it opened up and Quick-Step went through and I ended up blocked by my own lead-out man effectively, but it was my fault - I shouldn't have been there." The hills arrive on stage five Wednesday's fifth stage is the first hilly one of the race as riders tackle five categorised climbs over 204km from Lorient to Quimper. In his stage-by-stage guide for BBC Sport, Cavendish said: "Although we don't go to high altitude, the actual climbing kilometres will add up quickly because it is up and down all day on small roads with loads of lefts and rights. "It will be important to stay near the front and keep your team around you. I don't see a massive group coming in together in Quimper but it will be a group of one-day classics specialists and I expect to see something between Van Avermaet, Sagan and Michael Matthews." Stage four result 1. Fernando Gaviria (Col/Quick-Step Floors) 4hrs 25mins 1sec 2. Peter Sagan (Svk/Bora-Hansgrohe) same time 3. Andre Greipel (Ger/Lotto-Soudal) 4. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/LottoNL-Jumbo) 5. Marcel Kittel (Ger/Katusha-Alpecin) 6. Andrea Pasqualon (Ita/Wanty-Groupe Gobert) 7. Alexander Kristoff (Nor/UAE Team Emirates) 8. John Degenkolb (Ger/Trek-Segafredo) 9. Dion Smith (NZ/Wanty-Groupe Gobert) 10. Timothy Dupont (Bel/Wanty-Groupe Gobert) General classification after stage four 1. Greg van Avermaet (Bel/BMC Racing) 13hrs 33mins 56secs 2. Tejay van Garderen (US/BMC Racing) same time 3. Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) +3secs 4. Philippe Gilbert (Bel/Quick-Step Floors) +5secs 5. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Quick-Step Floors) +7secs 6. Bob Jungels (Lux/Quick-Step Floors) same time 7. Tom Dumoulin (Ned/Sunweb) +11secs 8. Soren Kragh Andersen (Den/Sunweb) same time 9. Michael Matthews (Aus/Sunweb) 10. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education First) +35secs Selected: 17. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +55secs 18. Adam Yates (GB/Mitchelton-Scott) +1min<doc-sep>Dylan Groenewegen won his second straight stage at the 2018 Tour de France on Saturday, prevailing in a bunch sprint to the finish in the city of Amiens after a 181K run from Dreux. The Dutch rider edged Andre Greipel and Fernando Gaviria in an exciting final dash. But there was more drama to come as race organizers disqualified Greipel and Gaviria from their places on the stage for breaching rules on physical contact. The pair bumped shoulders but avoided crashing a few meters from the line. Peter Sagan, who originally finished fourth after leading the final sprint for a few moments, was given second place instead of Greipel. Third place went to John Degenkolb, who originally finished fifth. A mass fall about 17K from the line severely set back General Classification contender Dan Martin of UAE Team Emirates. The Irishman, who won Stage 6 and finished sixth overall at last year’s Tour, lost about a minute to his title rivals. He was bleeding from the elbow and had a ripped hole in his zipperless jersey, showing blood on his back. Most of the other leading contenders, including Chris Froome, Romain Bardet, Vincenzo Nibali, Nairo Quintana and Richie Porte, came home safely in the peloton. Overall leader Greg Van Avermaet finished with the peloton and kept the yellow jersey for a sixth day. He leads Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas by 7 seconds and his BMC teammate Tejay van Garderen by 9. Tomorrow riders will face the first cobbled roads of the race—about 22K worth on the way to Roubaix. While Van Avermaet excels on that terrain and may hold onto the yellow through the Tour’s first rest day on Monday, expect the GC to go through its first major shakeup of the Tour. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>Dylan Groenewegen doubled up at the Tour de France with his second win in as many days. The Dutchman followed up Friday's success in Chartres with a Bastille Day win in Amiens on stage eight. The Lotto-NL Jumbo rider burst clear of world champion Peter Sagan and held off Lotto-Soudal's Andre Greipel and Quick-Step Floors' Fernando Gaviria before the latter pair were relegated for irregular sprinting. That gave Sagan second place and John Degenkolb of Trek-Segafredo third. Mark Cavendish, looking to turn around a frustrating start to the Tour, was on the wheel of Sagan as the peloton rounded a left-hander on to the finishing straight with 600 metres to go.<doc-sep>
(Image: ITV SPORT) Gaviria was involved in the bunch sprint finish of today's section of the 2018 Tour. The Colombian has been in great form so far and was looking for his third stage win of the race. But he and German sprinter Andre Greipel landed themselves in trouble after clashing in the run into the town of Amiens on today's Stage eight. After Dutch rider Dylan Groenewegen doubled up at the Tour de France with his second win in as many days, the Race organisers announced that Greipel and Gaviria, who originally finished third and fourth, had been relegated for irregular sprinting after clashing in the final hundred metres. (Image: ITV SPORT) (Image: ITV SPORT) That elevated Peter Sagan to second and John Degenkolb to third, with Brit Mark Cavendish credited with eighth place. Gaviria could be in even more trouble, after appearing to aim a headbutt in Greipel's direction. The Quick-Step Floors rider had been boxed in by Greipel in the final 200 metres and the Colombian appeared to headbutt his rival's lower back in retaliation. Groenewegen followed up Friday's success in Chartres with a Bastille Day win in Amiens. The Lotto-NL Jumbo rider burst clear of world champion Sagan and held off Lotto-Soudal's Greipel and Gaviria. (Image: ITV SPORT) (Image: ITV SPORT) Cavendish, looking to turn around a frustrating start to the Tour, was on the wheel of Sagan as the peloton rounded a left-hander on to the finishing straight with 600 metres to go. But the Dimension Data man appeared to brush wheels with Groenewegen and did not truly contest the sprint before rolling home in 10th place for a second consecutive day. Most of the general classification contenders crossed the line in the main bunch to hold station but UAE Team Emirates' Dan Martin lost 76 seconds after being caught in a crash with 17 kilometres to go. The Irishman, winner of stage six on the Mur-de-Bretagne, was one of several riders to fall with Quick-Step Floors' Julian Alaphilippe and Tom Skujins in the polka-dot jersey also caught out. (Image: ITV SPORT) (Image: REUTERS) Martin, with blood pouring from his elbow, quickly set off in pursuit of the peloton with several team-mates to help. They got within 30 seconds but as the pace ramped up at the front, the gap soon began to grow again, with Martin left to rue an expensive tumble. BMC's Greg Van Avermaet retained the yellow jersey, and extended his lead by one second to seven over Team Sky's Geraint Thomas after nicking third place on the bonus sprint.