FOUGERES, France (AP) - British rider Mark Cavendish won a sprint finish Friday for the 26th Tour de France stage victory of his career, while countryman Chris Froome retained the overall lead as he bids to win the race for a second time.
This time there was no crash near the finish, like the one in Thursday's sixth stage that cost Tony Martin a broken collarbone, forcing him to withdraw while wearing the race leader's yellow jersey.
Cavendish is Martin's teammate on the Etixx-Quick Step team, and can empathize with the German after separating his right shoulder in a crash on the first stage of last year's Tour.
"Losing Tony was going to be a big loss for the team but we said today that we were going to win for him," Cavendish said. "He's an incredible part of the team on and off the bike."
Cavendish timed his attack to perfection to catch German sprinter Andre Greipel near the line.
Only Eddy Merckx with 34 stage wins and Bernard Hinault with 28 have won more Tour stages than Cavendish, who won four in 2008, six in 2009, five in 2010 and 2011, three in 2012 and two in 2013.
"I'm really happy now, two years after my last podium," said Cavendish, whose last Tour stage win was in 2013. "I just waited a little longer so I could use my speed at the end."
Peter Sagan of Slovakia, who is bidding to win the best sprinter's green jersey for the fourth straight year, was third.
Sagan, who is not a main Tour contender, is second overall behind Froome. American rider Tejay Van Garderen, an outsider for the Tour win who has excellent climbing skills, is third, 13 seconds behind Froome.
"Tejay's in great form and he's only a few seconds back from," Froome said. "He's ridden really well this first week."
Among the main rivals, Froome leads two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador by 36 seconds; defending champion Vincenzo Nibali by 1:38 and Nairo Quintana, the 2013 runner-up, by 1:56.
The stage featured no yellow jersey as Froome elected not to wear it as a mark of respect for Martin, who successfully underwent an operation early Friday.
"It wasn't ideal to get the yellow in this way." Froome said. "I wish Tony a speedy recovery."
Cavendish, meanwhile, was looking forward to speak to Martin on the telephone.
"I'm so glad his operation's gone well, would have been so glad for him to be here and celebrate with us tonight," Cavendish said. "We're dedicating this win to him and I can't wait to speak to him later."
The stage started from Livarot - a town in the Normandy region - and ended 118 miles later in Fougeres, nestled in the Brittany region.
Contador fell off his bike before the start line but got back on to take the start.
"Actually we were just talking about the crashes when five of us fell, I couldn't avoid falling," said Contador, who was unharmed.
Within two minutes of the stage start, five riders broke away.
Eritrean rider Daniel Teklehaimanot, wearing the best climber's polka dot jersey, was joined by Frenchmen Anthony Delaplace and Brice Feillu, Croatian Kristjian Durasek and Spaniard Luis Angel Mate.
Teklehaimanot took an extra point in his quest to win the King of the Mountains jersey when he was the first to the top of the Cote de Canapville.
After Durasek and Delaplace were caught, Mate and Feillu were reeled in with about 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) to go.
Once again, Van Garderen's BMC team led the main pack as it approached the finish, with three of Froome's Team Sky teammates parked at the front.
Suddenly, the peloton eased up and let the sprinters go.
"Everyone started to relax just a little bit more. It's a nice feeling actually; it's been such a crazy week," Froome said. "It was definitely much needed. It was amazing to look around to see how many people are wearing bandages and bleeding through their shorts."
Norwegian sprinter Alexander Kristoff attacked first and then Greipel surged past him on the left.
But this time Cavendish burst through some 50 meters from the line to deny Greipel a third stage win on this year's race.
He praised Greipel for not closing the gap on him, ensuring that it would be a pure sprint to the line.
"He wanted a fair sprint and that's a gentleman thing to do," Cavendish said.
Today's eighth stage, which stays in Brittany, is a mostly flat 112.5-mile trek starting from Rennes and finishing with a short climb up Mur de Bretagne.