Frenchman Arnaud Demare won stage four of the Tour de France on Tuesday after Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendish crashed.

Britain’s Thomas, the race leader, crashed on a bend just inside the final kilometre, while Cavendish went down a couple of hundred metres from the finish line after being baulked by world champion Peter Sagan against the metal barriers on the side of the road.

Thomas got back on to his bike to finish, but Cavendish required lengthy medical treatment before he was able to cross the line. Sagan was later disqualified from the race for causing Cavendish to crash.

‘I get on well with Peter and a crash is a crash but I’m not a fan of him putting his elbow in,’ said Cavendish.

Demare became the first Frenchman to win a Tour stage in a sprint finish since 2011.

Thomas kept his overall lead, with defending champion Chris Froome 12 seconds behind him.

Stage four result:

1. Arnaud Demare (Fra/FDJ) 4hrs 53mins 54secs
2. Alexander Kristoff (Nor/Katusha) Same time
3. Andre Greipel (Ger/Lotto)
4. Nacer Bouhanni (Fra/Cofidis)
5. Adrien Petit (Fra/Direct Energie)
6. Juergen Roelandts (Bel/Lotto)
7. Michael Matthews (Aus/Sunweb)
8. Manuele Mori (Ita/UAE Team Emirates)
9. Tiesj Benoot (Bel/Lotto)
10. Zdenek Stybar (Cze/Quick-Step)

General classification after stage four:

1. Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) 14hrs 54mins 25secs
2. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +12secs
3. Michael Matthews (Aus/Sunweb) Same time
4. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Dimension Data) +16secs
5. Pierre Latour (Fra/AG2R) +25secs
6. Philippe Gilbert (Bel/Quick-Step) +30secs
7. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol/Team Sky) +32secs
8. Tim Wellens (Bel/Lotto) Same time
9. Arnaud Demare (Fra/FDJ) +33secs
10. Nikias Arndt (Ger/Sunweb) +34secs

Photo: Tour de France