Arnaud Demare took the honors on Stage 4 of the Tour de France, which ended with a huge crash involving Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan during a thrilling sprint finish.
MORE: WATCH: Australia's Michael Matthews pipped at stage three finish by Peter Sagan
The flat 207.5-kilometer (129-mile) ride from Mondorf-les-Bains to Vittel on Tuesday proved, as predicted, favourable to the sprinters and the leading stage contenders bunched together in the closing stages.
During the jostling and bustling for position, Sagan's elbow appeared to hit Cavendish, who collided heavily with the barriers and needed medical attention on the road as he clutched his right shoulder.
FDJ rider Demare was one of the leaders that came out unscathed and a well-timed charge saw him cross the line ahead of Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin), while the Frenchman now holds the lead in the sprint classification.
.@arnaudemare s'impose après une chute de Cavendish / @arnaudemare wins the stage, Cavendish crashed #TDF2017 @vittel pic.twitter.com/93HGr6XETq
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 4, 2017
Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) remained in possession of the yellow jersey despite coming off the bike following a crash that preceded Cavendish's tumble, coming away seemingly unhurt.
Earlier, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) made a solo break and had to deal alone with the punishing headwinds.
Van Keirsbulck's lead was such that he mopped up maximum sprint points and the solitary mountain point on offer, before he was swept up with 17 kilometers remaining — a cut-throat gesture to the camera signaling the end of his pursuit of the stage win.
The usual amble for position followed and pandemonium ensued in the closing stretch.
Cavendish tried to latch on to Demare's wheel, but Andre Greipel and Nacer Bouhanni veered right forcing Sagan toward Cavendish, who was clipped and had nowhere to go but the barrier. Team Dimension Data later confirmed he was taken to the hospital to check on an injured shoulder.
Demare then made the most of his brilliant charge home at the end of an utterly chaotic finish.