Peter Sagan finished third on stage seven, the fifth time in the first seven stages he has finished in the top three overall, but his wait for a stage win goes on.

Sagan has worn the white jersey since Tom Dumoulin abandoned on stage three of the race, and he has been racking up the points in the increasingly enthralling race for the green jersey too – where he is now just 12 points behind leader Andre Greipel and could claim the jersey on stage eight if he climbs well on the Mur de Bretagne.

The wait for a stage win, however, goes on – despite so many near misses, he has not won since the equivalent stage two years ago.

He has shown he has the pace this year – had the finish line on stage five been just a few yards further back he would have stormed to victory after his powerful kick for the line.

Without a lead-out train it has been a great performance so far, picking the right trains to latch onto and showing some great sprinting speed.

But perhaps the efforts of doing it alone are taking their toll, costing him the difference between second place and first?

Since a slow start to his Tinkoff-Saxo career this season, Sagan has been in top form in recent months though and the long-awaited victory is surely in the pipeline.

There are not too many sprint stages remaining, but Sagan’s all-round ability means there could well be other opportunities too.

He is well-placed in the race for the green jersey again too, despite not recording a stage win.

You either win or you lose a sprint, as Mark Cavendish says, but the Slovakian still deserves great credit for his form so far.