Inside the final kilometres of the 12th stage of the Tour de France, several crashes wreaked havoc in the bunch.

Andre Greipel was among the riders to hit the deck, while Team Sky’s  nominated sprinter, the hugely talented Edvald Boasson Hagen, was also brought down – fracturing his clavicle in the process.

With mayhem going on behind them however, Omega Pharma-Quickstep concentrated on the task in hand, and when Gert Steegmans dropped Mark Cavendish in perfect position for the sprint it appeared to all intents and purposes as though there would only be one winner.

With just a short sprint to the line, Cavendish was overwhelming favourite as he led the sprint to the line, but Marcel Kittel had other ideas.

Attacking from Cavendish’s wheel, the young German dug deep and timed his attack to perfection, rounding the Manxman and surging to a stunning victory in the final metres.