Marcel Kittel proved the strongest and fastest man in today's stage 7 of the Tour de France 2017, which took the riders from Troyes, over Gevrey Chambertin, to Nuits-Saint-Georges - where a selection of delicious classic and famous wines are produced. The sprint finish, however, was so eagerly contested by the contestants the winner had to be found by way of photo-finish.

Upon reviewing photo-finish imagery, the race jury decided Kittel had won the stage ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen of Team Dimension Data, with Michael Matthews finishing third for Team Sunweb.

"It was the closest sprint of my career. Reminds me of last year's stage in Limoges, but not even that one was so tight. I'm not surprised to see Edvald (Boasson Hagen) up there, he's in good shape and very strong, which we could already notice in Troyes. Seeing that only six millimeters made the difference between joy and disappointment today makes me happy and grateful," Kittel told Roadcycling.com after being celebrated on the podium.

"It's a pity I couldn't finish it off. However, I'm happy with this second place even though I would have liked to take the stage win. I'm not a pure sprinter, so to be able to be up there on these flat stages gives me a lot of confidence for the remaining part of the Tour," Boasson Hagen explained.

Team Sky Pro Cycling's Christopher Froome leads the Tour de France general classification ahead of teammate Geraint Thomas and Fabio Aru of Team Astana.

Tomorrow's stage 8 of the 2017 Tour de France is a challenging mountainous 187.5 kilometer ride from Dole to Station des Rousses.

"It's going to be an interesting day tomorrow," Orica-Scott general classification hopeful Simon Yates said. "I’m not sure if the break will go or if with the time bonuses there, maybe it could be a really hard day."

"Sunday awaits a monster of a stage, so maybe there will be some guys trying to save themselves for that. It’s hard to judge, we will have to see."

Look for Cannondale Pro Cycling Team's Pierre Rolland, Direct Energie's Stephen Cummings and FDJ's Thibaut Pinot to spend the weekend stages in a breakaway hoping to secure a stage victory for their palmares.

Buy bikes and cycling gear in our road bike shop.