Race leader Vincenzo Nibali remained in the yellow jersey after avoiding a big crash three kilometres from home that saw 20 riders tangled upm including two of the Italian's main challengers, Thibaut Pinot and Jean-Christophe Peraud of France.

The crash would not have affected the Astana rider's position in any event as it happened inside 3km, which according to Tour rules means that on sprint finishes riders will be credited with the time of the group in which they finished.

However, considering the travails experienced by the long-departed defending champion Chris Froome of Great Britain and two-time winner Alberto Contador of Spain, Nibali will have no doubt been relieved to avoid any pile-up as he sits on a seven minutes and 10 seconds lead over FDJ.fr rider Pinot in second and Ag2r-La Mondiale's Peraud, who is a further 13 seconds back on general classification.

Vicenzo Nibali can almost smell victory on this year's Tour with two stages to go
©Getty Images




Slovakia's Peter Sagan had been many people's tip to win the 208.5km stage from Maubourguet as he chases a third green jersey in a row as points leader.

However, the Cannondale man was one of those who went down in the pile-up as he led a chasing pack trying to reel in Navardauskas.

Navardauskas' Garmin-Sharp team mate Tom-Jelte Slagter had launched a solo attack with 32km remaining, but was caught by the Lithuanian at the top of the 1.3km ascent on Cote de Monbazillac.

Slagter was spent and could do nothing as Navardauskas raced clear on the descent building a lead of 25 seconds.

It looked like the chasing pack were closing in rapidly on the leader until the crash, allowing Navardauskas to cross the line seven seconds ahead of Giant Shimano's German rider John Degenkolb and Norwegian Alexander Kristoff of Katusha.

Despite crashing today Peter Sagan is still in possession of the green jersey as he looks to win it for a third successive time ©Getty Images



"It was my dream to win a stage in the Tour de France - everybody wants to do it - and I'm happy I could make it," said 26-year-old Navardauskas.

"I'm really thankful for my team mates for this.

"It was the team's plan, right from the beginning."

With two stages to go on this year's Tour, barring any calamities, Nibali will be crowned the Tour de France champion in Paris on Sunday (July 27) to win cycling's most prestigious honour for the first time in his career.

Tomorrow's penultimate stage is a 54km time-trial from Bergerac to Perigueux.

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