His day started with the news Lotto-Belisol team mate and leader Jurgen Van Den Broeck had abandoned the 100th Tour de France after the knee injury sustained in yesterday’s big crash.

But it ended with Andre Greipel atop the podium after beating Peter Sagan (Cannondale), Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) and Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) in a sprint finish to take stage six.

The German champion’s victory – set up perfectly by his sprint train – moves him second behind Sagan in the race for the green jersey.

See how the stage unfolded through the lens of Stefano Sirotti in the gallery of images above.