Italian Matteo Trentin takes dramatic stage seven Tour de France win in Nancy

By Gary Anderson

Italian Matteo Trentin won stage seven of the Tour De France by less than the width of a tyre in Nancy as he held off the challenge of Slovakian Peter Sagan in a dramatic sprint finish.

The Omega Pharma - Quick-Step rider had initially congratulated Sagan as both riders powered to the line, only for a photo-finish to determine the Italian had claimed the win by the narrowest of narrow margins.

Frenchman Tony Gallopin of Lotto Belisol finished third ahead of Tom Dumoulin of The Netherlands and Australian Simon Gerrans in a mass sprint finish.

Trentin, who claimed his second career Tour de France stage win, benefitted from a superb lead-out from his Omega Pharma - Quick-Step team mates in the closing stages of the 234.5 kilometre stage - the second longest on this year's Tour.

The Belgian squad had to regroup following leader Mark Cavendish's exit on day one and today's win will come as a big relief.

"It was only on the photo finish that I saw that I won, by about a centimetre and a half," said 24-year-old Trentin.

"It was a really stressful run-in to the line.

"I couldn't see who was alongside me.

"I didn't know who was taking the pace up.

"Thanks to [team mates] Tony Martin and Jan Bakelants, I managed to get myself into the position right at the end to come out on top.

"I did use a lot of energy up to get this victory, but after so much bad luck, it was really good for us to get a victory today."

Trentin (right) had initially thought that Peter Sagan (left) had won the sprint to the line in Nancy ©Getty Images

While Cannondale rider Sagan has yet to register a stage win, he remains in third place in the general classification after registering his seventh top-five finish on this year's Tour, while he also maintains his hold on the points classification green jersey.

Italy's Vincenzo Nibali remains in possession of the leader's yellow jersey after a comfortable 16th place finish kept him two seconds ahead of Astana team mate Jakob Fugslang of Denmark.

"There's no such thing as an easy stage," said Nibali afterwards.

"It was a very fast speed and there were a few falls, so it was quite stressful at the end.

"I'm feeling very good.

"The important thing is to have got through this very long day without having any accidents."