Steven Cummings of Team Dimension Data won stage 7 of Tour de France to make his point to Great Britain selectors, as he took a phenomenal solo stage victory at Lac de Payolle in the foothills of the Pyrenees on Friday. Day 7 of the Tour saw cyclists cover a distance of 162.5km in the medium-mountain range from L'Isle-Jourdain to Lac de Payolle.
Cummings broke clear of a four-man group that included Vincenzo Nibal of team Astana, a former champion, with 26km remaining. He eventually crossed the line with a 1minute 5 seconds advantage of Ocrica-Bike Exchange's Daryl Impey who came second. Daniel Navarro of team Cofidis was third, and Nibali had dropped on the climb. Belgian Greg Van Avermaet of BMC Racing who had won stage 5 of the race finished 5th.
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Cummings' win meant four of the first seven stages of this year's Tour have been won by British riders, with Mark Cavendish having won three of them. The 35-year-old Briton was excluded from the five-man men’s road team for the Rio Olympics by Team GB’s selectors, and this performance would seriously make the selectors think of their decision of not including him in the team.
"I feel pretty exhausted, but I'm obviously ecstatic," he told ITV4. "The team has been fantastic. It's great to be with Mark Cavendish - he's such a legend - and today was a brilliant day. "It was hot at the end. I was cooking up a bit, but I gave it everything to the top of Col d'Aspin, knowing the race had finished by the time I got there."
Asked if he should be in the Olympics, which start on 5 August, Cummings said: "I don't know. If I was coach I would, but I'm not a selector. They have experts there so let them get on with it."
Day 8 will see cyclists cover a distance of 184 km in the treacherous mountain stage from Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon.
Mark Cavendish leads the general classification table with 204. He is followed by German Marcel Kittel of Etixx - Quick-Step with 182 points, and Peter Sagan of Team Tinkoff in third position with 175 points.
| S.No | Cyclist/Team | Position |
| 1 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data | 204 |
| 2 | Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step | 182 |
| 3 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team | 175 |
| 4 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie | 112 |
| 5 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | 90 |
