LE CREUSOT: Slovenia’s Matej Mohoric won stage seven of the Tour de France on Friday as leader Mathieu van der Poel kept the yellow jersey against the odds by leading a breakaway on an epic 249km run from Vierzon to Le Creusot. Defending champion Tadej Pogacar limited his losses and remains a force to be reckoned with, while Ineos’s best-placed rider Richard Carapaz wasted energy with a doomed late breakaway before being caught on the line as the British team continue to suffer. A mass attack after 50km of the longest stage in 21-years stunned race favourite Pogacar, as over 20 riders got away after a 15km struggle to contain them wilted. The large escape group, all working hard to maximise the damage, soon opened up a seven-minute lead, leaving a sense of confusion in the teams left behind including the UEA and Ineos teams. It was to produce an unexpected day of drama to round off an eventful first week. Ahead of two tough mountain stages in the Alps, the rookie Van der Poel, who took the lead on stage two, is a defendable 3min 43sec ahead of fifth-placed Pogacar. Jumbo’s Wout Van Aert is now second overall at just 30 seconds after the pair came home with six other riders, a minute and 40 seconds after the winner. Pogacar admitted after the race that he felt the effects of his individual time-trial win on Wednesday saying he had not refused to chase and thanking his team, even if they lost three minutes on Van der Poel. His countryman, stage winner Mohoric, climbed to fourth in the overall standings and claimed the King of the Mountains polka-dot jersey. Another Slovenian, Primoz Roglic, was the big loser of the day and was dropped with 15km to go. The 2020 runner-up fell badly on stage three and now appears to be out of the running after losing 3min 50sec on Roglic and Carapaz. Mark Cavendish continued his astonishing return to form by following the escape in the crosswind, as he often did in days of old, to win an intermediate sprint and take another 20 points in the chase for the green jersey before dropping off.